STORIES THAT MATTER
UTS HOMECOMING: A CELEBRATION OF COMMUNITY
Lisa Valencia-Svensson ’86 and Graham Yost ’76
THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE FALL 2022
U N I VERSITYOF TORONTOSCHO
VELUTARBOR ITARAMUS
Our Shared Responsibility
In 2009, I had the privilege of presenting an award at UTS Graduation. As the platform party assembled in the old UTS gym, I tried not to think about the fact that most of the students who would cross the stage that evening had been born in 1991, the year that I graduated from UTS. While chatting with a fellow presenter, I spotted something on the gym wall behind him that took my breath away: a sticker that read gay-positive space. In the early nineties, it would have been unimaginable to post such a sentiment at UTS (or at most any Toronto high school, for that matter). And yet, within the space of one generation of students, something in the culture of the school had obviously changed.
Indeed, by the time of my visit, work had been ongoing for a number of years at UTS towards fostering a sense of belonging among all of its students and prospective students. Since then, the school has made further strides in this direction, including enshrining equity and inclusion as elements of the UTS Strategic Plan, developing an anti-racism policy, and most recently, hiring a new vice principal, Dr. Kimberley Tavares , to coordinate endeavours in this area. UTS is also demonstrably committed to self-examination on this front. In 2021, the school commissioned an assessment of its efforts by Dr. Avis Glaze, who canvassed a wide range of perspectives as part of her work, including those of alumni. The resulting report, Anti-racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Our Shared Responsibility, provided a comprehensive identification of what the school currently does well, as well as areas for improvement.
In addition to offering a perspective based on past experience, there is a role for alumni in supporting the school’s current and future efforts. In recent years, members of our alumni community have spoken on a student-organized panel addressing anti-Asian racism and a Day of Pink panel hosted by the UTS Parents’ Association. They’ve joined the UTS delegation to an anti-oppression and justice conference for independent schools organized by St. Clement’s School, and have taken part in the school’s Black Futures Month closing assembly, to name just a few instances. Alumni are particularly well-placed to offer mentorship, and to share strategies for navigating life in the diverse world after UTS. I encourage those of you with an interest in this area to consider what you may be able to contribute. It truly is a shared responsibility. ■
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCHOOLS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
371 Bloor Street West, Room 250
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2R7
Phone: 416-978-3919
E-mail: alumni@utschools.ca
Web: www.utschools.ca/alumni
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UTSAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
TREASURER
PRESIDENT
Aaron Dantowitz ’91 Aaron.Dantowitz@utschools.ca
VICE PRESIDENT
Laura Money ’81 Laura.Money@utschools.ca
Jonathan Bitidis ’99 Jonathan.Bitidis@utschools.ca
Aaron Chan ’94 Aaron.Chan@utschools.ca
Hana Dhanji ’05 Hana.Dhanji@utschools.ca
Anne Fleming ’85
Anne.Fleming@utschools.ca
Geoffrey Hung ’93 Geoffrey.Hung@utschools.ca
Peter Frost ’63 Peter.Frost@utschools.ca
SECRETARY
Adarsh Gupta ’12 Adarsh.Gupta@utschools.ca
DIRECTORS
Peter Neilson ’71
Peter.Neilson@utschools.ca
Mark Opashinov ’88
Mark.Opashinov@utschools.ca
Bob Pampe ’63
Bob.Pampe@utschools.ca
Julia Pomerantz ’12
Julia.Pomerantz@utschools.ca
Avanti Ramachandran ’09 Avanti.Ramachandran@utschools.ca
HONORARY PRESIDENT
Rosemary Evans REvans@utschools.ca
HONORARY VICE PRESIDENT
Garry Kollins GKollins@utschools.ca
Morgan Ring ’07 Morgan.Ring@utschools.ca
Tim Sellers ’78
Tim.Sellers@utschools.ca
Ian Speers ’98
Ian.Speers@utschools.ca
Jessica Ware ’95
Jessica.Ware@utschools.ca
UTS acknowledges we are situated on the traditional territory of many Indigenous nations including the Anishnabeg peoples – the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Chippewa – as well as the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, which is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that the land is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit. We are grateful to honour this land through our dedication to learning and ongoing commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Aaron Dantowitz ’91 PRESIDENT, UTSAA
L
O
S
Dewey Chang, Dan Chen, Emily Di Nunzio, Martha Drake, Kimberley Fehr, Emma Jenkin ’03, Dahlia Katz, Bryan Levesque, Kara Lysne-Paris, Dr. Jeff McLeod, James Murdoch
ON
Stories that Matter collage clockwise from top right: Lisa Valencia-Svensson ’86, Graham Yost ’76; two stills from the vigil in the documentary Call Her Ganda, produced by Lisa; scene from The Grizzlies, written by Graham (photo by Shane Mahood, courtesy of Mongrel Media).
ABOVE
The first day of school this fall outside our new home: F1 (Grade 7) Haiden and his mother, Chessan Chew. Photo by Kimberley Fehr.
CONTRIBUTORS
Our thanks to this issue’s contributors: John Allemang ’70, James Benson ‘Ben’ Bacque, Aaron Dantowitz ’91, Martha Drake, Rosemary Evans, Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72, John Robson ’78, Karen Sumner and Warren Lang.
CONTENTS REGULAR FEATURES UTS Board Report ....... 4 Principal’s Report ........ 4 Giving Back ...............5 In School ................. 6 Alumni News ............ 22 Mark Your Calendars .... 24 Donor Report ........... 30 8 STORIES THAT MATTER It was always about justice: Lisa Valencia-Svensson ’86 Bringing passion and prose to the screen: Graham Yost ’76 16 A CROSSROADS OF COMMUNITY Celebrating past and future at UTS Homecoming Community Open House PUBLISHER Martha Drake MANAGING EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER Kimberley Fehr EDITOR Sumner & Lang PROOFREADER Morgan Ring ’07
PageWave Graphics Inc.
DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY/ILLUSTRATION
PRINTER Colour Systems Inc.
THE COVER
Published spring and fall, The Root is available to all alumni, parents and friends of UTS. The Root is also available at: www.utschools.ca/root. Contact us at alumni@utschools.ca or 416-978-3919 to update your address or to receive your copy electronically.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
Every time I step into our new school building, I feel a sense of elation. The space is inspiring, the energy exhilarating and the sense of pride palpable. This is UTS, the way it was meant to be.
As my time as Board Chair draws to an end, I am grateful our school community cares deeply for the past and the future, and brought our new building into being. Thank you to the UTS Board of Directors for their enterprising leadership that renewed our Affiliation Agreement with the University of Toronto and made our new home possible, and to UTS Alumni and Parents’ associations for their unwavering support. Thank you to the Project Steering Committee, and Don Schmitt C.M. ’70 and Diana Saragosa from Diamond Schmitt Architects, for bringing our new home to life.
Most of all, thank you to UTS Principal Rosemary Evans. She is the best partner in leadership I could have hoped for. I knew her from my days as a Professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management – she was one of my best students! We couldn’t have imagined then that our paths would cross again, and we would have the opportunity to build the school of our dreams together, but that is the power of education. It takes you places beyond your wildest imagination.
Rosemary’s dedication to UTS is unsurpassed and unstoppable. A force of nature, she brings people together to create solutions, overcome obstacles and champion change. Now, because of her, we are becoming an even better school, built on values of equity, excellence and inclusion. Looking forward, our greatest aspiration is to dismantle financial barriers so all students at UTS are able to attend and participate fully in the life of the school.
Our students are the future, not just of our school, but the world at large. Within these walls of our new home, we are planting the seeds for a better world that will take root and grow.
UTS, it has been a pleasure to work with everyone in community for the last 11 years to bring us home, to the UTS of the future.
The UTS Homecoming Community Open House celebrated an incredible milestone in our school’s history, in what has been another momentous year for UTS.
This extraordinary day came to be thanks to the collaborative efforts of our visionary partners. First and foremost, the University of Toronto, which renewed our Affiliation Agreement. Seven years later, our commitment to the university’s mission remains paramount, as we continue to support research, innovation and teacher training, while upholding values of equity and inclusion.
Visionary leadership came from the UTS Board of Directors, especially UTS Board Chair Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 . Jim, as the Founder of Founders, brought his acumen, passion and drive to lead our community to raise $63.5 million through the Building the Future campaign. Thank you, Jim, for bringing our school home. I wish to also extend my gratitude to retiring Director, Andre Hidi ’77, whose astute acumen in chairing the Board’s Finance Committee helped secure our future.
Now we’ve refined our strategic plan with a better vision for the future. Our purpose is to graduate students who are instilled with a love of learning, strive for excellence, and have the drive to innovate, take initiative and lead as socially-responsible, equityoriented global citizens.
Data shows that current students who identify as Black, groups of Asian students and LGBTQ2SI+ students, staff and alumni don’t feel that they fully belong. We are committed to address this. We began by positioning equity as our mindset, ingrained into the three cornerstones of our strategic plan: admissions, empowering our community and partnerships. For admissions, it’s about ensuring a wider pool of exceptional students are able to access a UTS education, which includes encouraging underrepresented students to apply and giving students support to thrive.
Thanks to the incredible support of the UTS community and the leadership of Jim Fleck, we are ushering in a new era in our refurbished home, making UTS a place with a greater sense of belonging for all.
4 THE ROOT | FALL 2022
Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 Board Chair, UTS
UTS BOARD REPORT
Rosemary Evans Principal, UTS
THE LASTING LEGACY OF OUR UTS DYNAMIC DUO
The fall roster of events at UTS have been among the happiest for so many of us! Over 1,000 members of the UTS community attended the epic Homecoming Open House celebration of our stunning renewed school in September, and this year’s Annual Alumni Dinner in October was a boisterous affair with more smiles, hugs and exclamations of delight than ever before as alumni reunited in person with one another.
As we settle into our renewed digs at 371 Bloor Street West and get back to celebrating all things UTS in person, I marvel at the profound legacy of the dynamic duo of Principal Rosemary Evans and UTS Board Chair Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, ’72 . Based on the standing ovation and applause for both Rosemary and Jim at these two events, I know that I am in good company in terms of the deep gratitude I have for them and all they have done for our school!
I imagine that you are fully aware of the commitment to UTS, optimism, tenacity and pure talent that both Rosemary and Jim have demonstrated time and time again. Did you know that before Rosemary’s first day at UTS in 2011, she was told that UTS would no longer be part of the University of Toronto? Rosemary quickly became the architect of the plan which now has UTS as a key stakeholder of the University of Toronto, contributing to the three priorities set by the University President, and to the U of T mission, securing our place in the University family.
The $60 million fundraising goal for UTS to retain our name, our location at 371 Bloor and our mission seemed insurmountable. And yet, Jim who was Chair of the UTS Board, the Project Steering Committee and the Building the Future campaign, led all missions with joyful aplomb to sustain our school. Together, we raised $63.5 million.
The lasting legacies of Jim and Rosemary to UTS are inextricably tied together. It’s truly difficult to single out one without the other given their team approach to the oversight of the school and the many missions they conquered together during their tenure. Being part of their journey has been a joy and a priviledge and it is with the deepest gratitude that I wish Jim and Rosemary all the best in their respective retirements this school year! With jobs masterfully done, may they continue to enjoy their associations with the UTS community. One of Jim’s favourite characters is Charlie Brown who said, “What if today we were just grateful for everything?” Today is that day.
5 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Martha Drake Executive Director, Advancement
PHOTO: Dahlia Katz
IN SCHOOL
They scaled new heights. They rode mountain bikes and paddled still waters. They conquered challenges and learned new things like archery and rock climbing. They saw the full magnitude of the stars. Most of all, they forged trust in themselves and each other. After a much too-long pandemic hiatus, experiential education at UTS is back in full force. UTS students and staff attended various camps in June and September including Cooch @ Camp Wahanowin, Kandalore, White Pine and Cedar Ridge, proving that sometimes the best way to learn is from experience.
Caps off to the Class of 2022 ! They graduated as brave, resilient champions of change, and while they only had a few months at our new school, they made it their own. During six years, they braved the move to 30 Humbert and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and yet emerged stronger than ever. Inspiring words of wisdom came from our two valedictorians: Andrew Cheng ’22 and Caleb Na ’22 . Andrew said: “As time passes, you will never be measured by money or titles, but by the people you inspire, the memories you make and the smiles you put on other’s faces.” Caleb said, “You have purpose without qualification. You are enough just for being who you are and enjoying where you are, right at this moment.”
What is my relationship and responsibility to sustainability, and how can I promote and implement sustainability in my community? These are the questions F2 (Grade 8) students wrestle with as they explore the F2 Year- Long Learning Theme of Sustainability. In November an entire day was devoted to the learning with students taking part in workshops led by guest lecturers. Here F2 Tanya takes part in a workshop led by OISE’s Dr. Hillary Inwood, teaching students how artists are exploring humans' connections to nature, kinship and stewardship to re-imagine more equitable, just and sustainable forms of living.
6 THE ROOT | FALL 2022
PHOTO: Emily Di Nunzio, Science Teacher and Lab Assistant
PHOTO: Bryan Levesque
PHOTO: James Murdoch
In 1985, Kenny Handelman ’89 partnered with Spanish student Miguel Bruned in the UTS Spanish Exchange. In June, Miguel’s daughter Elena followed in his footsteps in the same exchange, partnered with S6 (Grade 12) student Charlotte. Miguel, along with his son Miguel (Elena’s twin), stopped by our new building to express their gratitude to UTS Principal Rosemary Evans and Vice Principal Garth Chalmers and meet up with Charlotte’s mother, Laura McPhedran P ’22, ’24, proof positive that international exchanges not only create global citizens but build lifelong connections.
UTS took the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation one step further this year, cancelling classes to devote the day to learning about Indigenous peoples in Canada and actions to further Reconciliation. A school-wide assembly featured awardwinning artist and community leader Brianna Olson-Pitawanakwat, a member of Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation. In the afternoon, students took part in workshops on treaties, Kanien'kéha (the Mohawk language) and more, learning through the power of art, films and nature. A National Day for Truth and Reconciliation banner, created by students, was unfurled on the front of our school: learn the truth, honour the treaties, and change the future. This is our committment.
At the UTS Homecoming Community Open House, past and present came together with the opening of the Lewis House Time Capsule, which was sealed September 25, 1991. Dr. Jeffrey Jaskolka ’93, a former Lewis House Prefect, stored it for 30 years until September 17, 2022, when it was opened by current members of Lewis House before a full house of Homecoming guests, revealing several artifacts from the ’90s including a green Lewis hat, a list of Lewis class members of that year, a cassette tape, an actual Toronto Transit Commission ticket and transfer, books and many more timely treasures. It goes to show that while many things change, the UTS spirit only grows stronger with time.
For more UTS news and views, check out our website at utschools.ca.
7 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE I N SCHOOL
Photo (L-R) back row: Laura, Kenny, Miguel, Garth Front row: Rosemary, Elena, Charlotte and Miguel
STORIES THAT MATTER
Documentary producer and industry leader Lisa Valencia-Svensson ’86 and renowned screenwriter Graham Yost ’76 evoke a deeper humanity through powerful films, exemplifying the values of our school.
8 THE ROOT | FALL 2022
THE GOAL WAS ALWAYS JUSTICE
ACTIVIST-FILMMAKER LISA VALENCIA-SVENSSON ’86
By Kimberley Fehr
As human beings, stories shape our world. There are the stories we hear and the stories we tell, and then there are the untold stories, the stories that are missing, or even worse, silenced or stolen. As an award-winning documentary film producer, UTS alum Lisa Valencia Svensson ’86 fought to bring “stolen” stories into the light, and to create new stories. Now she’s driving change from the top, as Managing Director of the Racial Equity Media Collective, a national Canadian organization that aims to build equity for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) creators in Canada’s film, television and digital media industries.
STORIES ARE OUR ANCHORS
The history of our people becomes part of who we are. Lisa is a half-Filipino, half-Swedish American queer woman who grew up in Canada. What was missing were stories that affirmed her identity, with people who looked like her, and a strong connection to Filipino culture. As a teenager,
the sense of something amiss in English class when they studied works by Margaret Lawrence or George Orwell began to make sense when she read an anthology of short stories from Latin America and Africa and felt it resonate with her. She began reading beyond the curriculum, seeking out works by BIPOC authors that gave her a sense of connection.
“Black, Indigenous and People of Colour around the world lost our stories and knowledge of our histories because colonial powers deliberately and methodically took them away from us for centuries,” she says. “There was nothing accidental about this process. There are now millions of people in the world facing great challenges in our lives, and we have no sense of ourselves, no way to anchor ourselves in our histories. We’ll never get the stories we need because some of them are permanently destroyed.”
She thinks of the historical ramifications of people taken from Africa in the Atlantic slave trade who lost their cultures, their languages and the
9 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE
very knowledge of who they are, or how Spanish colonial rulers burned 90 per cent of the written record of the Indigenous peoples in the Philippines: history gone forever. In Canada, people are becoming aware of the Canadian government’s brutal policies on Indigenous peoples – similar scenarios played out around the world with devastating effects.
“In terms of anti-racism work, the core understanding is that colonization was a deliberate effort to destroy people around the world,” says Lisa. “We’re not trying to reclaim our stories. We’re trying to create new stories for ourselves because we don’t have the original ones to refer to anymore, and telling new stories is how many of us are figuring out what our possible paths forward for survival can be.”
FILMS FOR JUSTICE
Her art became activism. For 15 years as a film producer, Lisa was drawn to stories of heartbreaking humanity on racial and gender issues; stories no one else was telling that needed to be told. Her first feature length documentary, Herman’s House, explored the injustice of prolonged solitary confinement through the voice of Herman Wallace, a Black Panther who was
one of the Angola 3, imprisoned in Louisiana in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell for over 30 years. In the film he imagines his ideal home, collaborating with Brooklyn-based artist Jackie Sumell, who transforms his vision into art. The film won a News and Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming in 2014.
Another film, Migrant Dreams, took the 2017 Canadian Hillman Prize, which honours excellence in journalism in service of the common good. Directed by Min Sook Lee, the film told the story of migrant agricultural workers struggling against Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which treated foreign workers as modern-day indentured labourers. There was Call Her Ganda , the story of three women pursuing justice for Filipino trans woman Jennifer Laude, who was brutally murdered by a U.S. Marine, and many other films, all shining a light on what needs to be seen.
“My goal in producing these films was really to fight for justice for people,” she says. “I was producing the films for myself as well – I desperately needed to figure out my own story of who I was.”
A SPARK FOR LARGER CONVERSATIONS
The films serve as the beginning for larger conversations. The career highlights for her were not the Emmy or the acclaim or films being broadcast on PBS, or the other awards, but moments when the films had the potential to
10 THE ROOT | FALL 2022
Art becomes activism: some of the films produced by Lisa Valencia-Svensson.
Lisa Valencia-Svensson at UTS with her Emmy from Herman's House
touch or even transform the lives of people they impacted. “Migrant Dreams toured to groups and communities of temporary migrant workers in Ontario, being shown to hopefully help give them tools to empower themselves,” says Lisa. A Washington, D.C. convention of Filipino American activists from across the U.S., gathering to discuss how to work in solidarity with progressive movements in the Philippines, screened Call Her Ganda. “We heard that it really spoke volumes and meant so much to the activists who gathered there,” she recalls. “When I hear about our films empowering people in their struggles for justice, or motivating those working in solidarity with others – those are career highlights for me.”
As a producer, her role was to make the story come to life, on time and on budget, grappling with questions like: “Where’s the equipment coming from? Who’s paying for it? Is this on schedule? How’s the story going? Do we have distribution? Have we applied to film festivals? Every single thing.” Her background in finance served her well when she launched her documentary career in her thirties and she scaled up quickly. It helped that she honed her storytelling skills in her twenties as a volunteer for CKLN radio station at what was then called Ryerson, now known as Toronto Metropolitan University. There she met people who would later become colleagues, like Min Sook Lee, who went on to become a renowned filmmaker, and a Palestinian woman who inspired Lisa to take up the mantle for Palestine. She also pushed for change on issues of anti-racism and LGBT rights within a community of like-minded BIPOC women, having come out as a lesbian in
Toronto in 1993. “We had grown up as young women of colour in Canada, and we were all coming out and we all found each other. It was like a sudden awakening.”
HER PRODUCTION CAREER BEGAN WITH UTS ASSEMBLIES
At UTS, she already had the mind of a producer and documentarian.
Lisa took part in Film Club, swim team, Southern Ontario Model United Nations and the yearbook, where she worked alongside editor Judy Kramer ’86 , with whom she attended UTS Homecoming this September, and Noah Cowan ’85 , who went on to serve as co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival. “I remember every single photo I took, as they passed through my hands, coming into being in the darkroom.” She also worked on co-curriculars with Dave Auster ’86 , who became a producer at the Stratford Festival.
As Deputy Student Captain, she was responsible for producing a weekly student assembly and events. “I didn’t realize that’s what was going on, but I was producing. You didn’t call it that at the time. I was just making things happen.”
START FROM THE TOP
That ability to make things happen served her well as a film producer. Working at Storyline Productions and independently from 2007 to 2018, she helped bring films into being like The World Before Her, which shone a spotlight on two young women in India pursuing different paths: one preparing for the Miss India pageant
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A vigil for Jennifer Laude, a Filipino trans woman who was murdered by a U.S. Marine, in the documentary Call Her Ganda, produced by Lisa Valencia-Svensson.
and the other a Hindu nationalist. Another film, Laila at the Bridge, depicted the heroism of Laila Haidari, who survived child marriage and her own traumatic past to battle one of the deadliest problems in Afghanistan: heroin addiction.
In 2018, Lisa became Head of Operations and later Vice-President of Finance at Multitude Films in Brooklyn, where she co-produced documentaries such as Always in Season, about the suspected lynching of African American teenager Lennon Lacy in 2014, which won the Sundance Festival Special Jury Award for Moral Urgency in 2019. She shifted from production to industry leadership in 2020, taking on the role of Acting Industry Programs Director for the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto.
PURSUE REAL CHANGE
Now, as Managing Director of the Racial Equity Media Collective, she is working to make things happen through legislation and directives to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), “because that’s the path to systemic change: starting right from the very top and filtering down.” Her impact carries the potential to touch the lives of BIPOC creators across the country as she wrestles with questions like: “How do we seriously push the existing structures and systems of the Canadian screen sector to achieve real change?”
The mission is to dismantle the barriers that stand in the way of BIPOC creators, and increase the production, export and sustainability of BIPOC content and BIPOC-led production companies. The Collective successfully pushed for the adoption of two language amendments into Bill C-11, the
Online Streaming Act, that talk explicitly about supporting Black and racialized creators. At the time of writing, the Bill had been passed by the House of Commons and was in the Senate.
“Without Canadian government support, our independent production sector in Canada would not survive the endless onslaught of U.S. film and TV production,” she said. “The core focus of Bill C-11, which modernizes Canada’s 30-yearold Broadcasting Act, is to force foreign-owned streamers like Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ to pay into the Canadian system that funds independent production, the way the broadcasters have had to for decades. If the streamers are now pulling millions of dollars in revenue out of Canadian viewers, they should be required to pay into the Canadian system as well.”
In September, Lisa presented to the Standing Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications on the rationale for the language amendments, and what they could mean for BIPOC creators across Canada.
Another key area of focus for the Collective is pushing for the creation of a national data collection system for the screen sector that would collect race-based and other equity data to provide concrete numbers around the funding, commissioning and acquiring of BIPOC content, and to know where improvement is needed.
THE WILL TO OVERCOME
Her work will make a difference helping other BIPOC filmmakers overcome obstacles to bring their stories into the light of day, and if there’s one thing she knows as an Emmy-award winning producer, it’s how to overcome obstacles. Ask her if she faced challenges to accomplish all she did in film and she answers in one word: “Endlessly.”
In her early years, that came with a defensiveness and people tuning her out, rejecting what she was saying. She learned to be very strategic in what she said, and pushed through the discomfort. By the mid-2010s, things shifted as more professional organizations were established for BIPOC creators and more people gathered together to speak out about racial issues.
“I began to feel less alone knowing there are other people out there who share what I feel, and believe what I believe,” she says. “Like me, they have a passion to fight and really shift things, to push for radical change. My work is not about achieving equity, diversity or inclusion, but instead about working for justice.” ■
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Herman’s House, a documentary film produced by Lisa Valencia-Svensson ’86, was awarded a News and Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming in September 2014.
BRINGING PASSION AND PROSE TO THE SCREEN
FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, EMMY AND GOLDEN GLOBE–WINNING WRITER AND PRODUCER GRAHAM YOST ’76 HAS BEEN TELLING STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION AND BELONGING
By Karen Sumner
Who could forget how Graham Yost ’76 launched himself into the screenwriting stratosphere with Speed, the non-stop 1994 action thriller starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and Sandra Bullock? From there, Graham went on to write more action-adventure films such as Broken Arrow, Hard Rain and Mission to Mars, fulfilling a long-time dream of working with director Brian De Palma. He lent his talents to television –writing, creating or producing series such as Boomtown, Justified, The Americans, Sneaky Pete and Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman. He won Emmy and Golden Globe awards as a producer of the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon , an Emmy for his work on The Pacific , and has been nominated for other Emmys and Golden Globes. Amid this steady stream of high-profile work, a smaller project with large implications and a big story caught his attention.
A documentary about Russell Sheppard, a teacher from Saskatchewan who taught students how to play lacrosse while working for several
years in the Nunavut community of Kugluktuk, was sent to Graham to pique his interest, and it worked.
“I have a bit of a reputation in the business for being a crier,” says Graham. “People know they can sell me an idea if they can get me to cry. It’s usually anything about people stepping up for other people, being there for others. I was really moved by the story about Russ and by the high incidence of teen suicide in Nunavut. I didn’t know about it and it really got to me. My kids noticed my reaction and said I had to do this one. And funnily, we were also a lacrosse family. So there was that connection. But mainly, I was touched by Russ’s commitment and by the resilience of the young people in the town.”
That moment led to Graham creating the story and co-writing the script for the film, The Grizzlies, which explores how the newcomer Russ and the youth of Kugluktuk come together and are transformed through the sport of lacrosse. The suicide rate among Inuit is approximately
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nine times higher than among non-Indigenous Canadians, with even greater numbers among Inuit youth and young adults. The movie highlights the importance of connection and belonging while shining a light on the traumatic impact of colonization and how a town’s most vulnerable members – its youth – are both deeply affected by that history and powerful enough to change their future. The first feature directed by Miranda De Pencier, The Grizzlies premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018.
For his work on the project, Graham was nominated for a Humanitas Prize, which honours film and television writers who explore the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way. Like many other Canadians, Graham did not know a lot about life in the North. He left home at the
age of 22 and worked exclusively in the U.S., so this was an opportunity to tell a Canadian story that he felt strongly about.
“And it’s not just about Canada,” says Graham. “It’s every Western nation and the Indigenous peoples who live there. It’s colonialism. It’s people getting shunted aside and forgotten. It’s the legacy of residential schools. I wanted to know why kids were killing themselves. And what can be done about it, what’s helpful. That’s the genius of what Russ did. He really made a difference by paying attention and by connecting to people. Those who grew up in Kugluktuk before the lacrosse program confirm that it changed the whole momentum of the town. That’s not only an incredible human achievement but an incredible story worth telling.”
The film’s Inuit and First Nations actors are from remote communities, and drew on their own experiences while also adeptly inhabiting their dramatic roles. The film also hired Inuit and Indigenous producers, crew, musicians and creative collaborators and became a training ground for future Inuit and Indigenous filmmakers.
“This story doesn’t start with hope,” says Graham. “It starts with having something to do. Then, from having something to do, you get a shot at having something to hope for. I haven’t done a lot of socially conscious or socially active work. I have definitely created stories that pay attention to those who go unnoticed or have been forgotten. But this film is different in exploring a culture and a mental health crisis that is very much overlooked in the rest of the country. If it gets a couple of people to think, ‘That’s not right, that has to change,’ then that’s really gratifying.”
Having seen some of the North with The Grizzles, Graham is keen to explore more of Canada, especially the East. He comes back to Toronto when he has the time, and visits lifelong friends he made at UTS. When he arrived at the school in Grade 9, a student who showed him around introduced him to others as “the new boy.” Fifty years later, Graham’s closest friends still call him the new boy.
“UTS was the perfect school for me,” he says. “We were challenged, we were supported, and there was none of this cliquey jock versus nerds kind of thing. It was a small school and you could get to know almost everyone and play on any team. I really valued that sense of community and the relationships, both with teachers and with friends. It felt like being in something together, something that mattered.”
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For his work on Boomtown, Graham Yost received a 2002 Peabody award, which honours stories that matter and powerfully reflect pressing social issues. Other productions he worked on have also received the award.
PHOTO: Andrews Krusberg/Peabody Awards
Graham Yost first rose to fame as the writer of Speed The Grizzlies is one of his recent projects.
Graham’s career had its roots in his UTS days, when he first tried his hand writing screenplays.
He jokes that had he set his sights as a young man on a career in law or medicine, his parents might just have tutted in disapproval. Graham grew up in a home bursting with conversation about movies and books. His father, Elwy Yost, is best known for hosting TVOntario series Magic Shadows and Saturday Night at the Movies, where he shared conversations with filmmakers as well as his commentary about the movies he was screening. For over two decades, Elwy was like an honorary member of families who preferred classic films over Hockey Night in Canada.
“I would be headed out on a Saturday night with my friends, and my dad would say, ‘I don’t know, you might want to stay in. It’s a great one tonight,’” says Graham. “Sometimes I wish I had stayed in more. You can’t get that time back. But I was a teenager with other priorities.”
Later as a University of Toronto student, he entered a screenwriting contest offered by director Brian De Palma, hoping to earn a screenwriting credit for a project that would later become the film Blow Out starring John Travolta. He didn’t win.
“I was trying to write some screenplays at the time, but they really weren’t any good,” laughs Graham. “For the contest, I wrote a scene and submitted it. My dad read it and pointed to some spots that were well done. I was just beginning to see where things worked and where they didn’t. He would say, ‘There, what you did there, that’s visual, that’s cinematic.’ I would sometimes get lost in the words. I’m not a writer who was good out of the box. But I was learning. I kept slogging, kept going, kept trying.”
That tenacity eventually led to work as a writer for a handful of television shows in the early 90s, before Speed changed everything.
Graham says that belonging and collaborating with the others in the film and TV community is one of the best things in his life. He recalls working as a showrunner for Boomtown and bumping into a showrunner for different production in the bathroom.
“He said to me, ‘My god, this is the worst job in the world.’ He was in a bit of a state. And I said, ‘Yeah, it’s pretty tough.’ Meanwhile, inside I’m thinking, are you kidding me? This is the best job I’ve ever had. But you have to empathize. You have to have compassion. Part of this work is being able to understand and weave together perspectives and experiences other than your own.”
Graham is currently under contract with AppleTV and working on a dystopian science fiction series yet to be released called Wool, based on the renowned novel by Hugh Howey.
When Graham reflects about his career trajectory, time with his family, and the generations of UTS students with whom he shares a bond, he thinks about community and connection.
“Whatever you want to be or wherever you want to go, be kind,” he says. “Recognize that we’re all in this together. Looking back over the years, that’s what really matters to me – belonging to a community. What did E. M. Forster say? ‘Only connect…. Live in fragments no longer.’ That’s important. And for me, with all of the different roles I now occupy, that also means continuing to write. I don’t want to get too far away from that and from stories about human connection.” ■
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ABOVE: Elwy Yost and Graham Yost BELOW: A scene from The Grizzlies
PHOTO: Blake Hannahson, courtesy of Mongrel Media
PHOTO: Courtesy of TVO
A CROSSROADS OF COMMUNITY
Celebrating past and future at UTS Homecoming Community Open House
BY KIMBERLEY FEHR
They came from around the corner, across the country and from around the world. They came for the memories and the community. Most of all, they came to see the future, paying homage to a school that meant so much for so many people, in their lives and to larger society.
Over 1,000 alumni, parents, staff and community members returned home to the new UTS on the weekend of September 17 to celebrate the UTS Homecoming Community Open House and see the school we have become.
“Coming down Bloor Street to see the front facade of the building still unchanged was fantastic and really brought back the memories,”
said Audrey Marton ’78 , who drove in from Aurora, Ontario. A member of the first-ever class of girls at UTS, she met her husband, Leslie Marton ’76 , at the school. “We’ll always look back and think that UTS got so many things just right, such as the balance of academics versus athletics versus co - curriculars. They were visionaries.”
A CROSSROADS OF COMMUNITY
Now the vision is manifested in our new home. The old melds seamlessly with the new, the historic 1910 facade incorporated into an iconic design featuring a striking white brick exterior and the Withrow Auditorium , which cantilevers over an
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outdoor plaza, all designed to bring our school community closer together.
“We imagined the building as a crossroads for the school, a community space that connects every floor horizontally and vertically – the kind of X, Y, and Z axis of the school as a crossroads and space of social and intellectual interaction, and a gathering place that really can forge and shape the heart of the school,” said architect Don Schmitt C.M. ’70, Principal of the firm Diamond Schmitt, speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Withrow Auditorium on September 17.
Homecoming on a bright September Saturday felt like a crossroads of UTS history as friends new and old, alumni past and future mingled in communal spaces like the Fleck Atrium and the Learning Stairs, marvelling how UTS has changed. Some were seeing each other for the first time in decades. Others attended with their classmates. Two newly married couples, whose relationships began in their UTS days, attended together –Samir Kulkarni ’10 and UTS Alumni Association Director Avanti Ramachandran ’09, and Vivek Kesarwani ’09 and Ellen Bennett ’10.
ONE SCHOOL
Taking a break on the colourful new furniture on the second floor, Samir said, “I feel like the Fleck Atrium with the seating really opens up the space and allows UTS to be one school.” In his time, he says students would gravitate to particular halls or corners with their grades. He looks back on his time at UTS as one of humility: all of the students were high-achieving, but he felt no one really had an ego.
Ellen commended the new building for how it capitalizes on specific spaces for different interests which really plays into her experience – UTS made
it easy to try new things. From Reach for the Top to swim team to choir, Ellen became brave enough to play rugby. “If I went to any other school, it would have been a lot harder for me to branch out and try different things, and UTS and the community really made that easy to do.”
Down the hall lined with blue lockers, Casey Palmer ’01 was noticing how the new building seems designed to foster connection, and how it lies at the intersection between tradition and open-mindedness to the future. “Inclusion requires a broader lens of what the world can look like,” he said. “The new direction that UTS is taking on equity and inclusion is the right one. It’s always being such a liberal-minded and open-minded environment where people can really be themselves and be open to the fact that we only know what we know and always we have room to grow.”
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LEFT: Audrey Marton ’78 and Leslie Marton ’76
RIGHT: Casey Palmer ’01
On the night before Homecoming, a reception and tours of our new home took place for major donors and UTS Founders, giving many of them the opportunity to preview the spaces around our new school that bear their names, and giving UTS a chance to give back a little in honour of all they gave to our school.
Alumni and parents, as well as family members honouring the memory of alumni, gathered in the Fleck Atrium for an evening of celebration, sharing memories and community. For many, UTS was very much a family affair.
The family connection for Ian Graham ’73 includes his late father, David Graham ’45, and his siblings, renowned Olympic skier Laurie C.M. ’78 and Jeff ’76. As a student, Ian took the bus for three hours a day from Caledon for the love of UTS. He puts it quite simply, “I never didn’t want to come to school. We were all so stimulated.”
Bill Robson ’77, P ’06, ’08, ’09 rode his bike to the school from his Toronto home, as he did when he was a student. “When I first heard they hoped to raise $60 million for the new building, I thought it would be tough,” he said. “They pulled a huge rabbit out of what looked like a tiny hat.” Looking to the future, he says, “As long as the school is a beacon for parents and kids who value a good education, UTS can meet any challenge. If we all have that in common, UTS will continue to be great.”
Myran Faust and Julianna Ahn P ’18, ’21 gave generously to the new building, even though they knew their sons Julian and Nicholas would graduate before they had a chance to experience it. It didn’t matter, because they believe what UTS represents is important. “The excellence in academics drew us in,” said Julianna, “but what made the experience wonderful for our children was all of the other things the school prioritizes, such as the exceptional music program.”
For UTS Parents’ Association Co-President Sarah Moosavi P ’21, ’24, it’s how the school is very supportive and personal. “UTS is like a big family – the teachers, the parents, the staff, and most of all the principal, Rosemary Evans. She’s so close to everyone. It’s remarkable how every student she knows personally and many of the families as well.”
For others, UTS is simply a feeling that has stayed with them throughout their lives. Every August, UTSAA Director Dr. Bob Pampe ’63 feels a calling to UTS, a deep nostalgia for the fall football season, but it’s much more than that. “The best five years of my life were at UTS, without a doubt,” he said.
The night was like coming full circle for the Honourable Justice David Stinson ’70 and his family. When he was a student in the 1960s, his father, Frederick Stinson Q.C. ’40, was president of the UTS Parents’ Association. “In 1966, my father wrote a piece in the Twig titled, ‘It’s time to build a new UTS.’ That was in 1966. It only took 56 years so I wanted to come and see for myself. He, of course, is no longer alive, but I think he’d be pleased to see that it finally happened.”
THE NIGHT BEFORE HOMECOMING: DONOR APPRECIATION EVENT
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ABOVE: Myran Faust and Julianna Ahn P ’18, ’21. BELOW: Eric Petersiel ’89, David Stinson ’70, Kenny Handelman ’89, Madame Justice Jill Presser ’87, P ’17 ’21 and Steve Raymond P ’16, ’19 in the Lang Innovation Lab
THE PAST STILL PRESENT
Inside, alumni caught glimpses of the past still present in the school, visceral reminders of years gone by like the speckled stairs by the Eureka! Entrance that they had climbed so many years ago. They could see the shape of the former gym in the new Jackman Theatre. Down on the L1 Level, many stood in the music rooms, marveling at how they once swam laps in the pool in this very same space.
Althouse member Eva Huang ’10 was one of many who paused to admire the House mosaics, created in 2004 by then-students Phil Weiner ’04 and Diana Skrzydlo ’04 , now hanging on the first floor. “I’m here today for the community, absolutely,” she says. “From my time here, and amongst other alumni as well, it’s almost like a joke that we always say, ‘UTS never ends’ because we always find a way to come back to each other or because we continue to be connected even after we left school through university. I see that really strong alumni connection almost everywhere.”
In the McIntyre Gymnasium , Eva caught up with her former basketball coach, UTS Student Life Officer Neuton Watson in his element, surrounded by UTS basketball players shooting hoops.
“There’s a lot of pressure that can come with being at the school known for being academically gifted,” said Eva. “For me, sports was a way to deal with that and I had a great coach in Neuton – I wasn’t the only one who felt this way – who was really personable and helped us. It was very meaningful to see him continue to be here today and have that impact for other kids as well.”
A PLACE TO FIND YOUR PEOPLE
This type of enduring impact resonates throughout the lives of our alumni. For some, like Carol Beattie ’02 , attending Homecoming with her sister Liz Beattie ’00 and their friend Evan Roberts ’02 , UTS is a place where they forged lifelong bonds. “UTS was the first place where I really found my people,” said Carol. “I made good friends that I am still friends with today that I’ve known for 25 years now. It was a place when I felt there were people I could really connect and relate to who truly understand me.”
OUR NEW BEGINNING
Just before noon, a trumpet fanfare, followed by the resounding boom of the school’s Taiko drum group, welcomed attendees into the new 700 - seat,
state-of-the-art Withrow Auditorium for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
After UTS Board Chair Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 , who also chaired the Project Steering Committee and the Building the Future campaign, gave his speech, the clapping rose to a crescendo as everyone in the Auditorium stood, giving Jim a standing ovation for his efforts in raising over $63.5 million to fund our new building.
His Worship John Tory O Ont ’72 , the Mayor of Toronto, congratulated our community on this achievement with a video message, which played on the big screen.
After the speeches, Principal Rosemary Evans and Jim Fleck were joined on stage by many members of the UTS community who shared integral roles in making the project a success.
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ABOVE: UTS Student Life Officer and basketball coach Neuton Watson and Eva Huang '10 reconnected in the McIntyre Gymnasium. BELOW: Principal Rosemary Evans with Professor Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President and Provost at U of T, and UTS Board Chair Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 at Homecoming.
PHOTO: Dewey Chang
UTS FOUNDERS DINNER
The renewed UTS is built on the transformational generosity of 20 Founders, who are honored with named spaces in our beautiful new home at 371 Bloor Street West. In June, they came to tour their spaces such as the Jackman Theatre and McIntyre Gymnasium and see the future they have built for us, before attending a celebratory Founders Dinner at the York Club. Thank you so much to all our Founders, for giving us this brilliant foundation for the future UTS. Their gifts will keep giving back to UTS students for generations to come.
Representing the University of Toronto was Vice - President and Provost Cheryl Regehr. The 2022-23 Student Captains also were on stage, along with Architect Don Schmitt C.M. ’70, Dean Walker from Eastern Construction and C.J. Smith of JLL Project Management. Members of the Project Steering Committee, leaders from UTS Alumni and Parents’ associations, UTS Foundation, and the Building the Future campaign flanked Rosemary and Jim, including Martha Drake, Executive Director, Advancement, who managed the campaign. Together, they cut the ribbon on the new building to overwhelming applause, and a new era of our school began.
NO LIMITS
“I see it almost as like a blank canvas right now, just waiting for the stories to take root,” said Jean Wan ’02 , who came to Homecoming with her classmate, Eva Seto ’02 . “I’m very excited because I feel a strong personal connection to the old building, and this is a beautiful start. I can’t wait until the students and the teachers and the entire community really make it their own, the same way we did with the old building.”
Tibor Szandtner ’59, who lives in Toronto, said, “The facilities are fantastic. I think it’s unlimited what the kids can do here now. And they’re already doing unlimited things as far as I can tell. In the last 30 to 40 years, the school has changed so much. It’s much more broad-gauge than it was in my day – deeper, wider, more variety of classes. And much more ambition.”
The limits are gone. The foundation for our future is unshakeable. The future is here. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our community, we have built it together. ■
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LEFT: Tibor Szandtner ’59 at the Eureka! Entrance
Eva Seto ’02 and Jean Wan ’02
INTO THE NEW: BLACK STUDENT AFFIRMATION AND DISMANTLING ANTI‑BLACK RACISM
With the new building comes a heightened effort to embed an antiracist approach throughout our school. As part of the Homecoming event, UTS hosted a community conversation, Into the New: Black Student Affirmation and Dismantling Anti-Black Racism.
It was standing room only as speakers Sudz Sutherland P ’21, ’25, UTSAA Director Dr. Jessica Ware ’95, Daeja Sutherland ’21 and UTSPA Co-President Zahra Mohamed P ’25 shared a candid hybrid conversation with a diverse cross-section of our community.
“One of my sons is here at UTS at the moment,” said Zahra. “We want to build a community, where he feels, and other Black and diverse students feel welcome and are part of the community.”
Jessica shared how during her six years at UTS, there were times she was the only Black student in our school, but how UTS was a real gift to her and she became part of the community.
“The experience I had being the only Black student at UTS was something that I experienced again when I was at UBC as the only Black student in my program,” said Jessica. “I was the first Black person to get a PhD in Entomology at Rutgers. I was the only Black member of my faculty when I was a professor at Rutgers for 10 years and right now I’m the first Black curator at the Museum of Natural History. What we experienced at UTS was like what you’re going to experience when you go out there.”
UTS gave her an advantage, she said, with the training she had in school on handling interactions and challenging others. Now she’s excited to see there is a larger cohort of Black students at the school. “UTS has momentum and such strong support from the administration – I serve on UTSAA and equity, diversity and inclusion are woven into the fabric of what UTS is doing. Our school is in good hands moving forward.”
That includes the hands of Dr. Kimberley Tavares, the school’s new Coordinating VP of Anti-Racism, Equity, Inclusion, Access and Program Innovation, who organized the event, along with the UTS Black Equity Committee.
Kim described how the school is working to build connections between current and prospective families, with an initial focus on underrepresented Black and Indigenous students through our Community Connections program. Efforts are also evolving to make sure students feel supported once they are here, which includes reflecting their identity and ensuring their perspectives are represented the curriculum at-large.
Also attending were Dr. Avis Glaze, who authored the 2022 UTS report, Anti-racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Our Shared Responsibility, and UTS community partner, Dr. Trevor Massey of the Lifelong Leadership Institute and its Leadership by Design program. The sense of community growing in the room was palpable as parents, alumni, community members and staff discussed the challenges we face and the actions we can take towards greater inclusion for Black students, and all students, at UTS.
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UTSPA Co-President Zahra Mohamed P ’25 speaks at Into the New: Black Student Affirmation and Dismantling Anti-Black Racism.
ALUMNI NEWS
James Lloyd Cassels
C.M., K.C. ’73 was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for his contributions as the President of University of Victoria from 2013 to 2020, as a law scholar, and for his commitment to improving access to higher education. “This honour really reflects the fact that I’ve been lucky to be in positions where I could enable other people’s great ideas and see those ideas come to life,” Cassels said on University of Victoria news. “I’ve seen firsthand how universities can truly make an
// What does a new king mean for Ontario? As Britain said goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II and the reign of King Charles III began, Carolyn Harris ’02 was in high demand as a royal commentator and a writer to answer questions like this one. The historian, author and history instructor at the University of Toronto appeared on CNN Newsroom with Pamela Brown, discussing the Queen’s remarkable reign and how King Charles is expected to be a “unifying force” for a country in a state of crisis. Carolyn also appeared on CBC News, The Social on CTV and in the Globe and Mail and many other media outlets. For the 25th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, she was quoted in Time magazine as the author of Raising Royalty: 1,000 Years of Royal Parenting, describing how Diana’s influence conveyed a sense of caring to her sons: “We’ve seen both William and Harry are very concerned with vulnerable people, people with disabilities, [and] people suffering from mental health crises.”
Notes on the milestones and achievements in the lives of our alumni.
There are plenty of ways to stay in touch!
www.utsconnect.ca
alumni@utschools.ca
@utschools
@utschools / @rosemary_evans @utschools
enormous and positive impact in the lives of individuals and on societies.”
It was a UTS reunion at the Clean50 Summit in October. UTS Science Teacher Elizabeth Straszynski, who was named to Canada’s Clean50 for 2023 in the education and thought leadership category, met up with Gavin Pitchford ’76 whose recruiting firm, Delta Management, manages the summit, and employee Wendy Wang ’20, who works for Gavin as a Clean50 Analyst. Together, they spent the day in cross-sectoral teams discussing how we can help Canadians better
understand the urgent need for action on climate change, while advancing Canada’s prosperity in a sustainable fashion.
A true UTS collaboration: retired UTS teacher Ron Royer (back right) and Sarah Hamilton ’81 (front right) teamed up with Shreya Jha ’16 (back left) for a composition/performance project sponsored by the Canada Council. Ron and Shreya wrote new compositions for Sarah’s oboe trio, the Can-Am Trio (also in photo), that were performed at the Scarborough Civic Centre in August.
Will artificial intelligence save humanity, or supersede it? Is AI governance a vitamin pill or a painkiller? These are the questions AI expert Mardi Witzel ’82
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PHOTO: UVic Photo Services
// Superstar Simu Liu ’07 crushed his first appearance on Celebrity Jeopardy!, placing second in the semi-finals and winning $20,000 for his charity, Stop AAPI Hate. He’s not the first UTS alum to appear on the show – Paul Horwitz ’87 was a oneday champion in 2007, Lan Djang ’93 was a champion several times, Shuli Jones ’18 was the first Canadian kid on Jeopardy!, and Amanda RossWhite ’96 and retired teacher Fraser Simpson also appeared on the show.
addressed in articles she wrote for the Centre for International Governance Innovation, an independent, nonpartisan think tank. An associate with NuEnergy.ai, she is focused on environmental, social and corporate governance and AI governance. One of her articles ran as a Toronto Star opinion piece on how a vanguard is carving a path on AI governance.
Eminent scholar Pericles Lewis ’86 was named Dean of Yale College at Yale University earlier this year – he was vice president for global strategy, and vice provost for academic initiatives, and the Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature and Professor of English.
Jennifer Andrews ’89 has taken on a new role as Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at Dalhousie University, and a Professor in the Department of English. Previously, she taught for 23 years as a Professor at the University of New Brunswick. This year, she also received a 2022 Insight Grant from the Government of Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to further research examined
in her forthcoming book, Canada Through American Eyes: Literature and Canadian Exceptionalism, from Palgrave Macmillan.
wild mushrooms. They told the Michelin Guide: “After 20 years working together, we are still in love.”
Dr. Benjamin Lin ’95 was inducted earlier this year as a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, an international honour given by this dental organization. Inductees are exemplary volunteers and leaders in dentistry and in their communities, who exhibit talent, leadership and service.
Tobey Nemeth ’93 (right) and Michael Caballo, wife-and-husband owners of Edulis Restaurant in Toronto, are this year’s Michelin Guide Toronto Service Award Winners. Their charming local serves elevated fare from wild and foraged foods, changing to showcase the ingredients of the moment – with a strong focus on seafood, vegetables and
His father, a Bay Street office worker, had a past life no one knew about. In the 1970s, he was a ballet dancer. For filmmaker Jamie Ross ’05 , it provided inspiration for his latest film, Dad Can Dance, which won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival this year. The film, awarded funding by
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ABOVE: A still from Dad Can Dance, a documentary by Jamie Ross ’05
PHOTO: ABC
PHOTO: Katie Bateman
PHOTO: Dan Renzetti, courtesy of Yale University
the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, follows his father as he begins to open up about his past and starts to dance again after almost 50 years, confronting shame and internalized homophobia. Jamie is currently a Fulbright Scholar at University of California, Los Angeles, researching a new film on police surveillance of queer communities in the 1910s in Los Angeles.
During a recent Canadian and World studies trip to Washington, D.C., teachers Vince Dannetta and Paul Harkinson met up with two young alumni working in the area.
Composer, lyricist, playwright and medical student Shreya Jha ’16 (fourth from left) is joined by some of her UTS fans after they enjoyed a performance of her Adams Prize-winning musical, Statistics, at the Toronto Fringe Festival in July. The musical contrasts the grit and perseverance of two female scientists –Rosalind Franklin, an esteemed biologist working on the structure of DNA in the 1950s, and Rose Andersson, who is trying to get into medical school.
Reach interviewed 600 refugee teachers and students in 23 countries to chronicle new visions for refugee education that embrace flexibility and allow students to develop adaptability. Her book is on the longlist for the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing. She was also interviewed by Times Higher Education, where she discussed living in post-apartheid South Africa and teaching classes of 200 students, and her optimism for children she has met in migrant camps.
LITERARY NEWS
Refugee students and teachers are reimagining education for displaced students, leading the way to a better future, Dr. Sarah Dryden-Peterson ’93 found in her new book, Right Where We Belong: How Refugee Teachers and Students Are Changing the Future of Education, published by Harvard University Press. The Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University and director of the research initiative Refugee
An inventive and honest memoir of trying to make a living without compromising your truth, the Best Young Woman Job Book by Emma Healey ’09 launched earlier this year, published by Penguin Random House. For a writer trying to pay the bills, life can be a work in progress. It’s in excellent company in our new library with other books written by, or about, UTS alumni.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
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PHOTO LEFT TO RIGHT: Teacher Vince Dannetta, Salvador Hutira ’12, an analyst at Solomon Hess Capital Management, and Frank Li ’12, who works in an investing role at a D.C. financial firm, and teacher Paul Harkison.
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2023 UTS Hockey Match Varsity Arena TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2023 Alumni Golf Tournament Glen Eagle Golf Course, Bolton Contact alumni@utschools.ca for more information.
UTS LOVE AFFAIRS X 2
This summer, two couples that hail back to their UTS days tied the knot. It was a UTS reunion in Bangalore, India for the August wedding of UTSAA Director Avanti Ramachandran ’09 and Samir Kulkarni ’10. Their relationship began at UTS when they were paired as Bollywood dancing partners in SHOW. Pictured left to right: Sarah Coyne ’09, Christine Robson ’09, Samir, Avanti, Alyssa Parpia ’09 and Benoit Cyrenne ’09.
Principal Rosemary Evans joined them for lunch at the Madison.
In May, the Class of 1971 held their belated 50th anniversary reunion, which they kicked off by coming home to UTS for a building tour to see our new home. About 20 members of the class attended, adjourning afterwards to a classmate’s home for cocktails before their reunion dinner.
In June, over 20 UTS retired staff returned from far and wide to tour the new UTS for the first time and gather together for their annual reunion luncheon. It was the first time they’d been able to be in-person since the pandemic and everyone was so excited to see each other again.
EVENTS
The five-day Hindu-Catholic wedding of high-school sweethearts Vivek
Kesarwani ’09 and Ellen Bennett ’10 was featured in Toronto Life magazine. The reception took place at the Globe and Mail Centre. As their relationship first began in their UTS days, one of their wedding photo locales was outside UTS.
The Class of 1977 gathered together in the comfort of a classmate’s home this October.
Getting together at the old school made new – 16 members of the Class of 1982 toured UTS, guided by enthusiastic Student Outreach Coordinators, prior to the Alumni Annual Dinner on October 22.
After the UTS Homecoming Community Open House in September, about 12 members of the Class of 1992 convened at the Duke of York pub to celebrate our new home, and reminisce about their UTS days.
In July, 24 UTSAA Year Reps came for a reception thanking them for their service, and to explore the new building.
Twelve alumni volunteers shared stories of their vibrant career journeys with M4 and S5 (Grade 10 and 11) students for a virtual Career Day last May. The alumni graciously answered students’ questions.
In May, over 65 alumni came out virtually to hone their mettle at UTSAA Trivia Night. When the game was over and done, a team called Reach for the Hops prevailed. This is the third year the event was hosted virtually and as always, it was a blast.
Both couples are also friends, who attended UTS Homecoming together.
REUNIONS
The Class of 1958 couldn’t wait to see our new building. They came for a tour in June, and afterwards, Executive Director, Advancement, Martha Drake and
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Class of 1992
Retired staff luncheon
In conjunction with UTS Homecoming, there was a Keys Gallery Retrospective Exhibition of works from 20 past Keys Gallery Artists in our new Boardroom. The exhibit opening took place at Homecoming and closed November 2. In the photo are: Dr. James McDougall ’54 , along with the curators of the Keys Gallery, Johanna Pokorny ’04 and retired vice principal and teacher Ann Unger.
ANNUAL DINNER
The Annual Dinner took place on October 22 at the Marriott Downtown CF Eaton Centre Hotel in person, like we never were apart! It was a time to say hello – after three long pandemic years the excitement in the air was palpable – and a time to say goodbye. For both UTS Board Chair Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 and Principal Rosemary Evans , it was the last Annual Dinner they would be attending in their leadership roles. The event quickly made up for lost time, celebrating grad years ending in 2 and 7, and years ending in 0, 1, 5 and 6 who missed celebrating their milestone years in person.
to innovate, take initiative and lead as socially-responsible, equity-oriented global citizens. Equity is no longer viewed as a cornerstone of our strategic plan or an initiative, but as a mindset ingrained in all that we do.” Key components of the plan include working to ensure a wider pool of exceptional students are able to access a UTS education, and that finances never stand in the way.
At the event, new Hall of Fame inductees and winners of the H.J Crawford Award were announced.
HALL OF FAME
The annual UTSAA Golf Tournament is back. It took place in June at Glen Eagle Golf Club in Bolton. Despite an early morning storm, nearly 20 UTS alumni enjoyed what turned out to be a beautiful day of play and friendly competition.
Co-hosts UTSAA President Aaron Dantowitz ’91 and Vice President Laura Money ’81 thanked guests for their support of the school through the UTSAA Annual Fund and in other ways. Last year, as a community, alumni donated $3,745,882 to help UTS students and over 150 alumni engaged with the school as volunteers.
Jim looked to the future: “Now that we have this beautiful new building to house UTS students and staff for generations to come, our ardent wish is to remove financial barriers so that students who should be at UTS are able to attend and participate fully in the life of the school.”
Rosemary shared details about the school’s revised strategic plan. “Our purpose now is to graduate students who are instilled with a love of learning, strive for excellence, and have the drive
UTS Principal Rosemary Evans inducted 16 former UTS Modern Language Teachers with 10 or more years of service to the school into the UTS Hall of Fame for their lifelong commitment to advancing and fostering a love of language learning, while teaching French, German and/or Spanish with aplomb and dedication. Congratulations to Carole Bernicchia-Freeman (1988-2014), Maria Collier (1975-2004), Eugene Di Sante (1989-2014), Jack Moorfield ’50 (1967-88), Ana Maria Pereira-Castillo (1981-2014), and Marie-Claire Recurt (1988-2010). Posthumous honorees include Roy Dilworth (1940-50), Lee Gallant (1969-88), Howard Hainsworth ’51, P ’79, ’84 (1961-70), Franz Ignatz (1961-76), Russell Jones (1945-61), George Kirk (1949-64), Norman Murch (1915-47), W.L.C. Richardson (19121948), William Stickland (1946-78) and Kate Tiley (1991-2018).
26 THE ROOT | FALL 2022 A LUMNI N EWS
Interested in joining the Branching Out program to mentor senior UTS students? Contact Rebecca Broderick for more details: rebecca.broderick@utschools.ca.
Carole Bernicchia-Freeman and Jack Moorfield ’50 were inducted into the UTS Hall of Fame by UTS Principal Rosemary Evans.
Top left: UTSAA President Aaron Dantowitz ’91 and Vice President Laura Money ’81
Top right: Friends for nearly 75 years after graduation! Don Avery ’49 and UTS Board Chair Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72
Middle left: UTS Principal Rosemary Evans inducts Marie-Claire Recurt into the UTS Hall of Hame, with Mary Wood accepting the award on behalf of her mother.
Middle right: Class of 2012
Bottom: Class of 1982
27 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A LUMNI N EWS
All Annual Dinner photos by Dahlia Katz
H.J. CRAWFORD AWARD
The winners of the 2022 H.J. Crawford Award, given in recognition of significant contributions to the advancement of UTS or lifetime achievements in greater society, were Chuck Magwood ’61 and the late John Duffy ’81, P ’17, ’21
An accomplished lawyer, builder, vintner, farmer and real estate developer, most notably the developer of the Toronto SkyDome, Chuck Magwood ’61 is recognized for his volunteer service
as a member of the Project Steering Committee. With development and building project management acumen coupled with a meticulous eye for detail and stalwart leadership, Chuck provided steady momentum critical to the renewal of UTS.
John Duffy ’81, P ’17, ’21 was awarded the 2022 H.J. Crawford Award in recognition of his service to UTS as the Vice Chair of the UTS Board of Directors. John used his brilliant skills as a strategist to help renew the Affiliation Agreement between UTS and U of T. Through his dedication and hard work, UTS was able to remain at our historic home at 371 Bloor Street West. John will be remembered for his many incredible contributions to UTS and its future. His spouse, Madam Justice Jill Presser ’87, P ’17, ’21 , accepted the award on his behalf. She, along with their children, Martine Handelman Duffy ’17 and Simone Duffy ’21 , contributed to a moving video acceptance speech.
IN MEMORIAM ROD STEWART 1934-2018
History teacher Rod Stewart’s UTS tenure was brief but impactful. He was only at the school from 1968 to 1974, which included two sabbatical years to research his ground-breaking biography of Norman Bethune, the
medical pioneer, renegade Communist doctor in Spain and China, and Maoistera war hero. To his students, Rod was an inspirational force at a difficult time when the school was trying to meet the social and political challenges of the late ’60s. A proudly working-class figure, he’d contested three federal elections –twice for the NDP, then as a Liberal after a persuasive meeting with former prime minister Lester B. Pearson. His powerful reformist sensibility informed his teaching – he was determined to raise our social consciousness. He introduced a course in world politics that saw us studying the divisive 1968 U.S. election in real time. But the life-changing moment came when he showed his history class the 1964 NFB film Bethune. Our enthusiastic response afterwards in his smoke-filled office drove him to become Bethune’s biographer and advocate, which had immense implications for Canada’s relationship with China. He was instrumental in developing Bethune’s Gravenhurst home as a national historic site and place of pilgrimage for Chinese visitors. Rod’s peripatetic career after UTS led to the definitive Bethune biography, Phoenix, and the more focused Bethune in Spain. He kept in touch with his students – one highlight was a visit to a York University Spanish Civil War class taught by Adrian Shubert ’71 . We admired his academic passion, which always had a public side. He pushed the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine to recognize Bethune, and persuaded the city to erect a plaque in his honour on Robert Street, handy for any UTS students seeking inspiration.
– John Allemang ’70
ANNE MILLAR
1944-2022
A deep commitment to education and a devotion to UTS resonated throughout the life of Anne Millar. The former Associate Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
28 THE ROOT | FALL 2022
WE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT… Share your news with The Root by emailing alumni@utschools.ca. (P.S. Also, please email us if your address or contact info has changed). you!
LEFT: Chuck Magwood ’61 accepts the H.J. Crawford Award from UTS Principal Rosemary Evans.
RIGHT: John Duffy ’81, P ’17, ’21 will be remembered for his many contributions to the UTS Board and as a winner of the 2022 H.J. Crawford Award.
(OISE) passed away this summer, leaving behind her best friend and beloved husband of 38 years, Professor H. Donald Gutteridge, who is a revered former principal of our school.
A life-long educator, Anne touched the lives of many of our students as the powerhouse OISE administrator dedicated to overseeing UTS operations. At the time, UTS fell under the purview of University of Toronto Faculty of Education and later OISE, when the two merged.
An exemplary and thoughtful leader, Anne demonstrated a caring commitment to UTS staff and students, and diligently advanced our school’s reputation and future within the University of Toronto. When UTS faced funding shortfalls after the Ontario government discontinued funding the school, she served on the Preserving the Opportunity Campaign Cabinet to raise funds for bursaries and maintain the school’s commitment to excellence. Even after retirement, her involvement with UTS continued as she attended many events and most recently, supported the Building the Future Campaign along with Don.
Anne received the University of Toronto’s Arbor Award in 2007 for providing historical insights on UTS, teacher education and educational studies
as a member of the University’s 100th Anniversary Advisory Committee. She is fondly remembered as a pivotal force in the history of UTS and a person who cared deeply for education.
ANN CHRISTINE ROBSON BACQUE ’80 (CHRISTY)
1962-2022
With great grief
Christy’s family reports her sudden and untimely death, and with great joy recalls her too-short but brimmingly-full life.
Christy was a Christmas gift to all, especially to her delighted brothers, William and John, to whom she was literally “presented” under the tree by her parents, Drs. John and Ann Robson of Toronto, in a flat in London, U.K. She grew up in the Republic of Rathnelly and the wilds of Go Home Bay, where she and her future soulmate first met as children.
Christy attended Brown School, St. Clements, the University of Toronto Schools, Parliament Hill School, and Leaside High School, where she met –yet again! – her husband-to-be, James Benson Bacque. Winner of the Lincoln G. Hutton and many other scholarships, she graduated with High Distinction from Victoria College, University of Toronto,
earning BA and MA degrees in English. Much later Christy earned another degree: her first-degree black belt in Shotokan Karate.
Predeceased by her loving parents and father-in-law, Christy was a fiercely devoted wife to Ben, cherished daughter of John and Ann, and daughter-in-law of Jim and Elisabeth Bacque. Proud and loving mother of Lisa (Matthew), Andrew (Shay) and Mikey (Steph), and doting Granny of Miles. Beloved sister to William (Helen) ’77, P ’06, ’08, ’09 and John Robson ’78 , and aunt to Maria ’06 (Garrett), Jim ’08 (Jennifer), and Christine ’09, and to Catherine, Jennifer and Rebecca. Dear sister-in-law to Susan (Simon), Cathy (Alan) and Andrew (Gemma), and aunt to Jessica, Rachel and Sarah, to Ella, Janet and Ian, to Isabella, and “Graunt” to Leo and Willa.
She was a teacher, student, sailor, editor’s editor of John Stuart Mill, an avid reader and polymath. Also a gardener, chef, crocheter and fierce Scrabble player. Her family, friends and neighbours in Ottawa, Go Home Bay, Toronto, across Canada and beyond will very much miss but remember her lively mind, razor wit and loving heart. She loved and was loved with mind, body and soul. ■
29 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A LUMNI N EWS
What will you do? To designate UTS in your will or as a designation for memorial gifts, please contact Martha Drake, Executive Director, Advancement. • 416-946-0097 • mdrake@utschools.ca
– John Robson ’78 and James Benson “Ben” Bacque
ANNUAL DONOR REPORT
Thanks to you, we came home this year to an iconic renewed school, built on the generosity of our donors and the love we share for UTS. Thanks to you, we continue to expand our possibility and potential, providing bursaries so that finances do not stand in the way of a UTS education. We want to thank the 1,100+ alumni, parents, staff, students and friends who collectively donated an astounding $4.8 million dollars this year to support UTS students – thank you! These pages are a testament to your generosity, and honour members of the Double Blue & White Circle, who have contributed $5,000 or more, as well as Arbor Society members who have shown their foresight and commitment with a legacy gift to the school. In this report, we acknowledge donations made from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
— Rosemary Evans, Principal
This report recognizes gifts to UTS for the period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of information. If you find an error or wish to have your name recognized differently, please contact the Office of Advancement: call 416 -978-3919 or email alumni@utschools.ca.
★ Donors who have given for ten or more consecutive years
Donors who have given between five and nine consecutive years
♥ Monthly Donors
THE DOUBLE BLUE & WHITE CIRCLE
Our thanks to the members of the UTS community who contributed $5,000 or more. This recognition circle honours and celebrates the school colours and spirit and these generous donors.
Nicole V. Agnew ’95
Steven ’77 & Gita Alizadeh P ’15, ’17, ’20, ’22
Xiang Han Max Bai ’16
Charles Baillie, Jr., O.C. ’58 & Marilyn Baillie, P ’85
Kristina Bates ’88 & Harris Davidson, P ’22
Zain Bhamjee & Iram Bhatti P ’20
Bill Blundell O.C. ’45
Michael Broadhurst ’88 & Victoria Shen ’93
Christopher Burton ’90
Peter L. Buzzi ’77
Priscilla Chong P ’98
Anne Christy GP ’21, ’23
Andrew Clarke P ’17
The Duffy Family
Peter A. Ewens ’79
James Fisher ’60
James Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72
Anne Fleming ’85 & Michael Piaskoski, P ’17
Susan French
John Gardner ’55, P ’83
Ajay Garg and Tian Zhou
P ’23
Goldman Sachs
John & Nancy Gossling
P ’18, ’20, ’23, ’25
Vanessa Grant ’80 & Philip Street
James H. Grout ’74
B & B Hamilton Fund at Toronto Foundation
30 THE ROOT | FALL 2022
P. Diane Hamilton ’85
The William and Nona Heaslip Foundation
Andre ’77 & Jocelyn Hidi
Victor Holysh ’76
Janet M. Hunter
Richard S. Ingram ’61 & Satoko Shibata
The Honourable Henry N. R. Jackman O.C., O Ont, CD, LLD, DHL ’50
The Jha Family
Patrick Kaifosh ’06
C. Stuart Kent ’79
Kenneth Kirsh ’78
Harold La ’88
Susan (Black) Lawson ’78
Balfour Le Gresley P ’77
The Le Gresley Family Foundation
David Leith & Jacqueline Spayne P ’11
Bowen Lew & Susan Song
P ’27
Brian Livingston ’72
Robert ’58 and Patricia Lord
Stephens B. Lowden ’56
Antony T. F. Lundy ’79 & Janet Looker
Tom MacMillan ’67
Paul Marks
Jon ’82 & Robin ’82 Martin
THE 1910 CLUB
Sean Mason & Christine Wong P ’25
Dena McCallum ’82
David McCarthy ’77
Bernie McGarva ’72, P ’03
J.A. (Sandy) McIntyre ’71
Robert McMurtry C.M. ’59
Nadir & Shabin Mohamed
Nasir Noormohamed & Tazmin Merali P ’09, ’10, ’14
Mark Noskiewicz ’77
Sumit Oberai & Marcia Mclean P ’23
O’Neil Léger Family Foundation
Susan E. Opler ’79 & Paul F. Monahan, P ’14 & Will Monahan ’14
Ripal Patel & Kruti Patel, P ’25
James Penturn ’77 & Kathleen Crook, P ’07
Mark & Peri Peters P ’16, ’19
Stephen Raymond & Natasha vandenHoven
P ’16, ’19
Donald & Nita Reed P ’92
Hon. William J. Saunderson
FCA ’52 & Meredith Saunderson
Donald Schmitt ’70
Hedy & Tim ’78 Sellers
John N. Shaw ’50
Mark Shuper ’88
A. Michael Spence ’62
Catherine & Bohdan Stasiw
P ’23
William Stinson ’51
Allan Sutherland ’44
M. Alexander Tory ’78 & Jennifer Talbot
Timothy Turnbull ’74
Gregory G. Turnbull ’73
UTS Parents’ Association
Sanjai Vohra & Sulia Vohra P ’20
Roger Wei & Carol Zhang P ’24
Peter and Joanne Willson P ’21
Pamela Y. W. Wong ’98 & Gabriel Woo, P ’28
Yushen Zhu & Yan Liu P ’27
Anonymous (4)
Our thanks to the members of the UTS community who contributed between $1,910 and $4,999. This recognition honours and celebrates the year the school was founded and these generous donors.
Donald C. Ainslie ’84
Marianne Anderson P ’17
Peter Andrews ’67
Leif Bergsagel ’77
J. Nicholas Boland ’79
John ’48 & Lois Bowden, P ’79
Cade Foundation
Jessica Carn ’94
Michael Ling & Karen Chan ’91, P’ 22, ’24
Sheldon Szeto & Flora Chen P ’21, ’23, ’26
Felicia Y. Chiu ’96
James S. Coatsworth ’69
William J. Corcoran ’51
Jim Cornell ’64
Ronald Davies ’70
Douglas ’58 & Janet Davis P ’87
Noor Dewji P ’08, ’11
Richard N. Donaldson ’67
John Drake
Martha Drake
Matthew Dryer ’68
Deborah P. Edwards ’88
Rosemary Evans
G. Alan Fleming ’54
Robert Francis & Ming Wu P ’15, ’22
Tom Friedland ’81
General Motors of Canada Company
Sherry A. Glied ’78
Margaret Graham ’89 & Andre D’Elia, P ’27
David S. Grant ’72
Thomas Halpenny P Eng, CED, LEED ’74
31 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
Katherine Hammond ’87 & Richard Nathanson ’87, P ’20
Keith Harradence & Susan Ormiston P ’15
Frederick Hixon & Melinda
Rogers P ’25
Anthony Hollenberg ’79
Baldwin Hum ’93
John Hurlburt ’52
Shinjae Hwang ’14
Patrick Hyland P ’26
Robert P. Jacob ’60, P ’88
Jason Jones ’91
Carrie Ku (Fung) ’85
The Kuperman Family
ALUMNI
1938-1948
$48,565
J. Drummond Grieve
Allan Sutherland
Bill Blundell O.C. ’45 ★
Daniel Lam ’08
Donald Lawson ’47 & Lorraine Lawson
Nicholas Le Pan ’69
Gordon E. Legge ’67
Qiang Lin & Bing Xia P ’23
Manulife Financial
Robert Martin ’74
Audrey Marton ’78
Lily McGregor
Bruce McKelvey ’67
Donald McMaster ’62
Jannis Mei ’13
Kosta Michalopoulos ’84
Robin Michel
Alan Mills ’55
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
David H. Morgan ’63
Nomi Morris ’80
Jimmy Mui & Amelia Ng P ’22
Stuart J. Nicholson ’92
Robert Pampe, M.D. ’63
Randy Pang & Jun Li P ’26
Gavin Pitchford ’76
Avanti Ramachandran ’09
Barbara Ritchie P ’80
Jeffrey R. Rose ’64 & Sandra Black, P ’03
David Rounthwaite ’65, P ’01
Mark & Helen Sava
P ’18, ’20
Peter & Jackie Shaw
P ’17, ’19
Michael Shenkman ’97
David G. Stinson ’70
Tony Storey ’71
Elizabeth Straszynski & Chris Wilson
Matt Syme & Liz Thorpe
P ’24
Justin Tan ’93
Robert Ulicki & Sherry
D’Costa P ’19
David Walker ’84
Yunfu Wang & Qian He
P ’28
Robert S. Weiss ’62
John Wilkinson ’78
J. Fraser Wilson ’63
Mardi Witzel ’82
Mark Yarranton & Patricia
Foran P ’13
Chiu & Elaine Yip P ’18, ’23
Shuzhen You P ’26
Yanfeng Zhang & Hong Liu P ’25
Roger Zheng & Sharon Xu P ’17, ’23
Anonymous (8)
Bruce Bone ’46 ★
David H. Wishart ’46 ★
Douglas Kent ’47, P ’73, ’79, ’82 ★
Donald & Lorraine Lawson
Tracy Lloyd ’47 ★
John A. Bowden ’48, P ’79 ★
William Hanley
John W. Thomson ★
John Weaver
1949-1950
$1,054,520
Richard Clee ’49
James Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 ★
Richard D. Tafel ’49 ★
Gilbert “Bud”
Alexander ’50
J. Michael Gee, Q.C. ’50
William Hoad ’50
The Honourable Henry N. R. Jackman O.C. ’50
Jack Moorfield ’50
John Shaw ’50 ★
Anonymous ’50
1951-1953
$23,840
David Barker ’51
William J. Corcoran ’51 ★
Peter H. Russell C.C. ’51 ♥ ★
William W. Stinson ’51 ★
Gerald Crawford ’52
John C. Hurlburt
Hon. William J. Saunderson FCA ’52 & Meredith
Saunderson ★
32 THE ROOT | FALL 2022 A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
Barry Smythe
Bruce Stewart ’52
William P. Lett ’53 ★
Alan E. Morson ’53, P ’79 ★
William E. Rogan
Douglas R. Wilson ’53 ★
1954
$9,100
W. G. Black, C.A.
H. Don Borthwick ★
Doug Brewer ★
Glenn Clark
G. Alan Fleming ♥ ★
John M. Goodings
James Lowden
James MacDougall
D. Keith Millar ★
John D. Murray ★
Desmond O’Rorke
William Redrupp ★
Gordon R. Sellery
John H. Wait ★
Gabriel Warren
1955-1956
$18,109
Harold Atwood ’55 ★
John Gardner ’55, P ’83 ★
William Hunter ’55 ★
Alan Mills ’55
Anthony Morrison ★
Ronald Raisman ’55
H. Thomas Sanderson ’55
William H. Taylor ’55
John L. Duerdoth ’56
David M. Flint ’56 ★
Ryan Kidd ’56
John Liphardt ’56
Stephens B. Lowden ’56
Charles F. T. Snelling ’56
Peter F. Stanley ’56 ★
1957-1958
$38,892
Robert Darling ♥ ★
Robert A. Gardner ’57 ★
James Graham ’57
Ian Rutherford ’57
David Scroggie
Robert Waddell ’57 ★
J. Douglas Ward C.M. ★
Charles Baillie, Jr., O.C. ’58 & Marilyn Baillie, P ’85
Douglas Davis ’58 & Janet Davis, P ’87 ★
Arthur D. Elliott ’58 ★
Richard Farr
Terence Keenleyside ’58
William G. Leggett ’58
Robert ’58 and Patricia Lord ★
James R. Mills ★
David Ouchterlony ’58 ♥
Barry N. Wilson ★
Anonymous
1959
$7,100
Donald G. Bell ♥ ★
Alexander Furness
William Hudgins
Robert McMurtry C.M.
Ian A. Shaw
John & Madelyn Sloane
P ’86 ★
Jim Stronach ★
Ian C. Sturdee ★
Ian M. Thompson
1960
$10,835
James Fisher
John R.D. Fowell ★
Robert P. Jacob P ’88
Randal W. Johnston
Peter C. Nicoll ★
Malcolm Nourse ★
Douglas Rutherford
R. Dale Taylor
Anonymous
1961
$997,342
John & Margaret Coleman ★
Norman Flett
David J. Holdsworth ★
Clayton Hudson
Richard Ingram & Satoko
Shibata
Katherine & Paul Manley ♥ ★
Michael Schwartz
Dr. James E. Shaw ★
Michael Tinkler
David M. Ward ♥
1962
$15,392
Geoffrey French
Paul Kennedy
Kirby Keyser
Donald A. Laing ★
David Legge
Donald McMaster ★
David S. Milne ★
Bryce Taylor C.M.
Robert S. Weiss ★
James E. Young
Anonymous (2)
1963
$18,120
John T. Bates ♥
Lawrence DeRocher
J. Stuart Donn
James Fowell ★
Peter H. Frost ★
David H. Morgan
Robert Pampe, M.D. ★
Nicholas Smith
J. Fraser Wilson
Anonymous
Anonymous Anonymous ♥ ★
1964
$8,128
J. David Beattie P ’00, ’02 ♥
Jim Cornell
Bryce Dyer
Paul T. Fisher
Robert Isbister
William R. Jones ♥ ★
Jeffrey R. Rose & Sandra Black P ’03 ★
Peter Snell ♥ ★
George Swift ★
Joe Vaughan
1965-1966
$5,980
Derek Allen ’65
John Cleworth ’65
Leland J. Davies ’65
33 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
♥
★
David Hetherington ’65
Karl E. Lyon ’65
Peter MacEwen ’65
Anthony J. Reid ’65
David Rounthwaite ’65, P ’01 ★
Jeffrey R. Stutz ’65 ★
Tim ’66 & Christine Halderson
William A. MacKay ’66 ★
Dave Sanderson ’66
1967
$32,993
David Amos
Peter Andrews
Donald Ball
Richard J. G. Boxer ★
Michael R. Curtis
Bruce Deacon
Richard N. Donaldson ♥
Michael Gillies ★
Greg Gulyas
John J. L. Hunter ★
Stephen Kauffman
Gordon E. Legge
Tom MacMillan ♥ ★
Bruce McKelvey
Bruce Miller
W. Scott Morgan ♥ ★
Peter C. Ortved ★
Alexander L. Pyper
Jeffrey Simpson O.C.
Geza Tatrallyay
1968
$8,900
Dr. Jan Ahuja
John Collins
Matthew S. Dryer
J. Wayne W. Jones
John B. Lanaway
Richard Lay
Wayne Maddever
John S. Rutherford
James C. Smith
Murray Treloar
Anonymous
1969
$8,005
John Bohnen ★
William J. Bowden
James S. Coatsworth ★
John B. Deacon
John Fallis
Stephen C. Farris ★
Daniel Gautreau ♥
Eric Haldenby
Frederick R. E. Heath ★
Robert J. Herman ★
Nicholas Le Pan ♥ ★
Peter A. Love
Bruce McDougall
David Gordon White
Anonymous (2)
1970
$213,331
John C. Allemang
Ronald Davies
Doug Donald ★
Kim Jarvi P ’21
Ray Kinoshita
Brian D. Koffman
J. David Lang P ’99
Peter Martin
Donald Schmitt
David G. Stinson ★
Thomas Taylor
Paul Wright
1971
$106,581
Derek A. Bate P ’16
William A. Fallis & Johann
Cooper P ’15
John Floras
Stephen Hart
Richard Hill ♥ ★
Thomas M. Hurka
J.A. (Sandy) McIntyre ★
Glen Morris
Peter G. Neilson ♥ ★
Timothy Owen
Warren G. Ralph ★
Adrian Shubert ♥
R.D. Roy Stewart ★
Tony Storey ♥ ★
H. Alexander Zimmerman
1972
$25,845
J. Dugald Cameron
B. Timothy Craine
Paul Crouch
Colin F. Fairlie
David S. Grant ★
Robert G. Hull
Richard Kennedy
Brian Livingston
Bernie McGarva P ’03 ★
William McMaster
Hugh Pattison
Howard Scrimgeour ★
Alan Spence
Timothy R. Telfer
Christopher D. Woodbury ★
Robert Wright ★
1973
$31,962
John Bate
J. Christopher Boland
Donald Clarke
Geoffrey Clayton
Joseph de Pencier
David Dick
David R. Dodds (5Y)
David Fallis P ’02
Ian Ferguson
Alvin Iu ♥ ★
Roger Martin & Virginia
Martin P ’99, ’01, ’03, ’05
William Alexander McIntyre
Donald Moore ♥
Jaak Reichmann
Edward S. Sennett
Gregory G. Turnbull
Walter Vogl ★
William Wilkins ♥ ★
Robert Zimmerman ★
1974-1975
$25,882
Lucian Brenner
Andrey V. Cybulsky ★
Gregory P. Deacon ★
James H. Grout ’74
34 THE ROOT | FALL 2022 A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
PHOTO: Bryan Levesque
Thomas Halpenny P Eng, CED, LEED ’74
Robert Martin ’74
Nicholas Stark ’74
Greg Turnbull ’74
Timothy Turnbull ’74
Anonymous ’74 ★
I. Ross Bartlett ’75 ♥
Graeme C. Bate, P.Eng. ’75
Martin A. Chepesiuk ’75, P ’10 ★
Kenneth J. McBey ’75 ★
Alexander Rae-Grant ’75
David Schimmelpenninck
van der Oye ’75 ♥ ★
Gregory J. Sokoloff ’75
1976
$19,050
Alec Clute ★
David G. Crookston
Myron Cybulsky ★
Donald Gordon ♥ ★
John Gould
Victor Holysh
Leslie Marton ★
Gavin Pitchford
Vincent Santamaura ★
Jeff Singer & Maureen Whitley
Gary S. A. Solway & Jeilah
Chan P ’26
Graham J. Yost ★
Anonymous
Anonymous
1977
$117,211
Steven & Gita Alizadeh P ’15, ’17, ’20, ’22 ★
Peter Allemang
Leif Bergsagel
Edward Brown
Peter L. Buzzi
James Ian Fairbanks
Andre & Jocelyn Hidi ★
David Le Gresley
David McCarthy, Jr. ♥ ★
Mark Noskiewicz
James Penturn & Kathleen Crook P ’07
Eric Tatrallyay
Anonymous ★
1978
$65,587
David Allan ♥ ★
Maija F. Beeton
Deborah Berlyne
Monica Biringer
Irene Cybulsky
Susan Dance
Sherry A. Glied ★
Daniel Gordon
Kenneth Kirsh ★
Susan (Black) Lawson ★
Dana Lewis
Allison MacDuffee
Audrey Marton
John Moffet
Douglas Rankin
Donald Redelmeier & Miriam Shuchman P ’12, ’15
Susan Reece-Eidlitz
Peeter Reichman
John A. Rose
Timothy Sellers ★
M. Alexander Tory & Jennifer Talbot
John Visosky
John Wilkinson ★
1979
$204,598
J. Nicholas Boland
John Burns ★
Brian Eden ♥
Peter A. Ewens ★
Lisa Gordon ♥ ★
Nicoline Guerrier
Andrew Hainsworth
Anthony Hollenberg
Jean C. Iu ♥ ★
C. Stuart Kent ★
Carl G. Knutson
Antony T. F. Lundy & Janet Looker ★
James MacFarlane
Susan E. Opler & Paul F. Monahan P ’14
Joshua S. Phillips
Alan Rachlin & Anne Ferguson
Susan Robertson ♥
Mark F. Wegierski
1980
$24,586
Andrew P. Alberti ★
Theodore Barnett
Paul Bird
Peter Bowen & Alison Bowen ★
Kevin G. Crowston
Sylvia Douglas
Carolyn Ellis
Dana Gladstone
Vanessa Grant & Philip Street ★
Dr. Sheldon Green ★
Bernie Gropper ★
Jill Hall
Jillian Lewis
Rick Marin ★
Ian McCuaig
Nomi Morris
Andrew Munn ★
Norman R. Nash
Barbara Tuer
Christine Wilson
1981
$17,625
Marcel Behr ♥
Justin Bur
The Duffy Family
Christopher Francis
Tom Friedland ★
Bruce Grant ♥
Matthew Kronby
Barbara Liu
Laura Money & Marcus
Macrae P ’22
Jeffrey J. Nankivell
Sudha Rajagopal
Andre Schmid
35 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
Martin Schreiber P ’15
Eugene Siklos
Hellen Spanjer
1982
$18,266
Ben Chan ★
Brian Denega
Robert Dmytryshyn P ’15 ’18
Kate Fillion P ’16
Melissa Fox-Revett
Lisa Jeffrey ♥ ★
Jon Martin
Robin Martin
Dena McCallum
Anita D. Tannis
Susan Tough
Mardi Witzel
1983
$3,438
Mary Ainslie
Robin Bloomfield
Adrianne Brewer
Sheila Coutts
John A. Hass ♥ ★
Kathryn Jones
Karen Landmann
Karen M. Mandel ★
C. Elizabeth Stefan
Andrew Tremayne
Elizabeth Turner ★
Raina Wells ’83 & Jeff Wells
Daniel Yoon Anonymous
1984
$13,557
Donald C. Ainslie ♥ ★
Scott Anderson
Marion Dove
Nicholas G. Evans
Geoffrey Hall
David Huggard
David Kreindler ♥ ★
Suzanne & Michael Martin P ’11, ’15 ♥ ★
Cameron A. Matthew ★
Patrick McPhee ♥
Kosta Michalopoulos ★
Jennifer Pullen
David Steadman & Cindy Wilkes
Jill Tinmouth
David Walker, CFA
1985
$51,248
Sarah L. Cannell
Isi Caulder ♥ ★
Jill Copeland P ’20, ’22
Clare Crowston & Ali Banihashem
Anne Fleming P ’17 ★
P. Diane Hamilton ★
Carrie Ku (Fung) ★
Carson Schutze ★
Paul Tough
1986
$7,734
Tracy A. Betel ♥
Paul Fieguth & Betty Pries
Sandra Flow
Henry Huang P ’19
Judith Kramer
Eleanor Latta ♥
Pericles Lewis
Arpita Maiti
Mark D. Phillips & Esther
Benzie P ’24
Jacquelyn Sloane Siklo
Julie Williams
Ian Worland & Caroline
Richardson ★
1987
$19,357
Katherine Basi
John R. Caldwell
Caroline Cathcart
Julia Cochrane ♥ ★
Kevin Davis ★
Lisa Freeman ’87 & Ray Forzley, P ’27
William Gibson
Katherine Hammond P ’20 ★
Ian Lee , P ’27
Elissa A. McBride
Richard Nathanson P ’20 ★
The Duffy Family
Gundars E. Roze
Kirsten Thorsen ’87
Cari Whyne & James
Pringle P ’24
Thomas Wilk
1988
$181,850
Jennifer Andersen
Koppe ♥ ★
Kristina Bates & Harris
Davidson P ’22
Michael Broadhurst
Sujit Choudhry P ’23 ’26
Deborah P. Edwards
Harold La, CFA
Mark Opashinov ★
Mark Shuper
1989
$7,521
Jennifer C.E. Andrews
Lesleigh Cushing
Margaret Graham P ’27 ★
Kenneth Handelman
Eric Petersiel
David Shaw
Carmen M. Young
Anonymous
1990
$14,769
Asheesh Advani & Helen Rosenfeld
Andrew Brack
Christopher Burton
Kevin J.K. Chan
Philip A. Curry
Hilary Davidson
Jessica R. Goldberg & James d’Ombrain P ’27
Heather Kirkby ♥
1991
$8,687
Rebecca Caldwell ♥
Michael Ling & Karen Chan
P’ 22, ’24
Sandra Chong ♥ ★
Aaron Dantowitz ♥ ★
Patrick Feng
Rajesh Gokhale & Parinita
Gokhale
Marni Halter
Mark Ho
Jason Jones
Jennie E. Jung
Roland Lee
Ruth Lim
Elizabeth (Allan) Wilson
36 THE ROOT | FALL 2022 A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
1992
$5,916
Sayeed Karim Abdulla ★
Bram Abramson
Anna Lim
Graham Mayeda ♥
Stuart J. Nicholson
Anonymous (2)
1993
$14,479
Roberta Ayles-Jackson
Kai Chan ♥ ★
Alison Clegg
Baldwin Hum
Geoffrey Hung ♥ ★
Alex Hutchinson ♥ ★
Jocelyn Kinnear
T. Justin Lou
Ian Richler ♥
Samuel Robinson
Victoria Shen
Rapido Trains Inc. ♥ ★
Jason E. Shron ♥ ★
Justin Tan
Scott A. Thompson ♥
Cindy Wan ♥ ★
Anonymous
1994
$4,600
Jessica Carn ♥
Aaron Chan ★
Adam Chapnick ★
Catherine Cheung
Jennifer Couzin
Raymond C. Fung
Andrea Iaboni ♥
Harrison F. Keenan
Ramzi Mirshak & Allison
Fraser
Rachel Spitzer ★
Laura Weinrib
1995
$98,265
Nicole V. Agnew
Rashaad Bhyat
Diana Drappel
Daniel Horner
Raphaela Neihausen
Robin Rix
Patrick A. Robinson
Jessica Ware ♥
Jeremy Weinrib
Anonymous (2)
1996-1997
$7,059
Felicia Chiu ’96
Amanda Martyn ’96
Ilan Muskat ’96
Amanda Ross-White ’96 ♥ ★
Warren Shih ’96
Emma Frow ’97
Jeffrey Hall-Martin ’97
Michael Morgan ’97 ♥ ★
Veena Mosur ’97
Michael Shenkman ’97 ★
Saraswati Son Hing ’97
Anonymous ’97
1998-1999
$10,865
Clarence Cheng ’98 ★
Judy Kwok ’98 ★
Eric Sherkin ’98
Ian Speers ’98
Pamela Y. W. Wong ’98 & Gabriel Woo, P ’28 ♥
Linus Yung ’98 ♥
Anonymous ’98
Jonathan Bitidis ’99 ♥ ★
Yan Kiu Chan ’99
Daron Earthy ’99 ♥ ★
Brenton Huffman ’99
David Kolin ’99
Jeffrey So ’99
James Steele ’99
Albert K. Tang ’99
Mark Varma ’99
2000-2001
$5,406
Justin S. Han ’00
Sabrina A. Bandali ’01
Ian Bradley ’01
Alexander Gorka ’01
Dara T. Lee ’01
Elisha L. Muskat ’01
Diana Chisholm
Skrzydlo ’01
Emily Stover ’01
Kingston Yiu ’01
Anonymous ’01
2002-2004
$5,278
Lea Epstein ’02 ♥
Tammy Ho ’02 ♥
Liang Hong ’02 ♥ ★
Stephen Kwong ’02
Samuel Siah ’02
C. Luke Stark ’02 ♥ ★
Julian Tam ’02
Allison Chow ’03 ♥ ★
Jennifer Chow, C.A. ’03
Jeremy Opolsky ’03 ♥
Pavle Levkovic ’04
Olivia Padiernos-Mapué ’04 ♥
Anonymous ’04 ♥
2005-2007
$16,188
Mitchell Wong ’05 ♥
Katherine Joyce ’06
Patrick Kaifosh ’06
Aliya Nurmohamed ’06
Anonymous ’06 (2)
Martin Ho ’07 ♥
Ricky Kuperman ’07
Morgan Ring ’07 ♥
2008
$8,605
Gordon Bae
Jamie Besant
Ryan K. Bradley, CFA
Andrew Chan
Simon Chen
Terrence Chin
Salvator Cusimano
Brett Henderson
Ivan Hui
Vivien Ku
Daniel Lam
Ian Li
Scott Ma
Arthur Margulies
Sabrina Nurmohamed
John Robson
Maggie Siu
Eleanor Vaughan
George Weekes
Josie Xu
Jeremy Zung ♥
Anonymous
Anonymous (2)
2009-2011
$9,475
Sarah Coyne ’09 ♥
Rahim Noormohamed ’09
37 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
PHOTO: Bryan Levesque
Avanti Ramachandran ’09
John J. Nicholas Stark ’09
Lisa Hui ’10
Ali A. Noormohamed ’10
Norman Yau ’10
Simin Dewji ’11
Adam Martin ’11 ♥
GOLD Donors: Grads of the Last Decade
$21,492
Alexander Fung ’12
Adarsh Gupta ’12
Isabella Chiu ’13 ♥
Jannis Mei ’13
Shinjae Hwang ’14
William Monahan ’14
Karim A. Noormohamed ’14
Mengting Qiu ’14
Emma Miloff ’15
Xiang Han Max Bai ’16
Clodagh Peters ’16
Christian Bergmann ’21
Andrea Ma ’21
Felicity E. Mei ’21
PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS OF CURRENT STUDENTS
Ajay Agrawal & Gina
Buonaguro P ’23
Family of Richard Bai ’23
William Binnie & Erin Binnie P ’24
Dmitry Brusilovsky & Svetlana Bogouslavski P ’27
Celia Castillo GP ’26
Nancy Castillo, P ’26
Bing Chen & Yehua Su P ’27
Dezhong Chen & Xuping
Zhang P’27 ♥
Sheldon Szeto & Flora Chen P ’21, ’23, ’26 ♥
Scott Cheng & Fiona Cai
P ’21, ’24
Sujit Choudhry ’88 & Ira
Parghi, P ’23, ’26
Anne Christy GP ’21, ’23
Mark Cocklin and Brenda
Chung P ’22, ’27
Radu Craiu & Lei Sun P ’22, ’25
Zhen Yu Deng & Mable Shi, P ’26 ♥
Richard Derham & Qing Li P ’22, ’26
Kun Du & Yiling Zhang P ’28
Jin Fan & Li Zhao P ’23
Qing Fan and Min Qian
P ’22, ’25
Xiaodong Fu & Farong
Chen P ’24
John & Nancy Gossling, P ’18, ’20, ’23, ’25 ★
Margaret Graham ’89, P ’27
Kun Gu & Wenge Zhang
P ’25
Lin Han P ’23
Jingyi Hao & Nan Liu, P ’26
Frederick Hixon & Melinda
Rogers P ’25
Sasan HosseiniMoghaddam & Nazanin
Aghel P ’23 ♥
Cindy Hsu P ’24
Hai Huang & Zhifen Jiao
P ’24
Junhua Huang & Mingmin
Zhu P ’24
Zhigang Huang & I Hsuan
Chen P ’22, ’27
Patrick Hyland P ’26
Frank & Erika Ientile P ’23
Chris Javornik & Linda
Weber P ’22
Xiaoyi Ji & Chen Qu P ’27
Zhaohui Jia & Hongying
Zhang P ’24
Jun Jiang & Yingxin Li P ’24
Xiaomin Jiao & Xiaona Zhu, P ’26
Yaariv Khaykin & Yana
Shamiss P ’24
Jun Kong & JingYu Xu P ’27
Ray Kong & Irene Bauer P ’24
Andrew Leung and Wan
Wu P ’23
Bowen Lew & Susan Song P ’27
Yongle Li & Yuewen Yi P ’27
Qiang Lin & Bing Xia P ’23
Phillip Lipscy & Rie Kijima P ’27
En Liu & Lucy Song P ’25 ♥
Xing Hua Liu & Yanping
Chen P ’25, ’27
Jinsong Lu & Jianmei Zhao P ’26
Thomas Lundon & Thu
Hong Ngo P ’27
Sean Mason & Christine Wong P ’25
Ivan Mo & Ming Xiong P ’23
Dean & Alison Mullett P ’26
Sumit Oberai & Marcia Mclean P ’23
Kevin O’Neill & Archana Sridhar P ’26
Andrew Pan and Fang Yang P ’24
Zhenhong Pang
Ripal Patel & Kruti Patel P ’25
Mark D. Phillips ’86 & Esther Benzie, P ’24
Maolin Ren & Qing Chen, P ’24
Seyed Hadi Sadat Toussi & Mersedeh Arbab P ’26 ♥
Dave Seglins & Bay Ryley P ’24
Gary S. A. Solway ’76 & Jeilah Chan, P ’26
Catherine & Bohdan Stasiw P ’23
Matt Syme & Liz Thorpe P ’24 ♥
Bill Tang & Wen Xu P ’23
Michael Tang & Cindy Fong P ’24 ♥
Gan Tian & Wen Zhang, P ’24
Godfrey Tio
Feng Wang P ’28
Xiaoyun Wang P ’24
Xun Wang & Hongxia
Zhang P ’18, ’26
Yunfu Wang
Roger Wei & Carol Zhang P ’24
Peter and Joanne Willson
P ’21
38 THE ROOT | FALL 2022 A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
PHOTO: Emily Di Nunzio, Science Teacher and Lab Assistant
Bill Wu & Julie Wu P ’26 ♥
Chunlei Wu
Howard Xian & Frances
Zhang P ’23, ’26
Heng Xu & Mei Chen
P ’26 ♥
Sheng Yang & Lixiang Xu
P ’24
Song Yang & Xin Liu P ’25
Yiping Ye & Enyu Wang
P ’23
Rick Yeung and Serena Lai
P ’23, ’25
Chiu & Elaine Yip
P ’18, ’23
Shuzhen You
Qian Zhang & Ting Liu P ’27
Yanfeng Zhang & Hong Liu, P ’25
Zhi Gang D. Zhao
Roger Zheng & Sharon Xu
P ’17, ’23
John & Ping Zhu P ’21
Qiang Zhu
Yushen Zhu & Yan Liu P ’27
Anonymous (6)
Anonymous (3) ♥
PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS OF ALUMNI
Peter & Elizabeth Alberti
P ’80, ’82, ’86
Marianne Anderson P ’17 ★
Kailash Bahadur & Maria
Miller P ’02
Margaret Bawden P ’20
Mark Bernardi & Mary
Frazer P ’18
Michael & Sandra Bernick
P ’16
Zain Bhamjee & Iram Bhatti
P ’20
Paul Bhangu & Mona Mann
P ’21
Rikesh Bhogal & Rimmy
Kaur P ’21
Ian & Susan Binnie P ’93, GP ’24
Robert G. Boeckner GP ’18
Alma Brace P ’71, GP ’12
Dennis Brockman & Mona
Lee P ’09, ’14
Edward Brown ’77 & Enid
Susan Markson, P ’16
Consuelo Castillo P ’92
Sonia Chai P ’22
Paul & Loretta Chan P ’98 ★
Tao Chen and Feng Liu P ’21
Wang Dong & Xuan Chen
P ’12, ’21
Zhenzhou Chen and Yun
Zhang P ’21
Martin Chepesiuk ’75, P ’10
Parent of Derek Chiang ’96 and Michelle Chiang ’00 ★
Priscilla Chong P’ 98
The Christoffersen Family
Andrew Clarke P ’17 ★
Michael & Judith Copeland
P ’85, GP ’20, ’22
Todd & Jennifer Davidson
P ’17, ’21
Noor Dewji P ’08, ’11
Robert Dmytryshyn ’82 & Natalie Lehkyj, P ’15 ’18
David Earthy P ’99
Anne Ellis P ’10, ’14
Margaret Elmarson
Robert and Betty Farquharson P ’10 ★
Myran Faust & Julianna Ahn
P ’18, ’21
Aaron & Patricia Fenton
P ’97
Fiala Family
James Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 ★
Anne Fleming ’85 & Michael Piaskoski P ’17 ★
Douglas & Christine Flood
P ’93
Alexander & Lucy Forcina
P ’15 ♥
Robert Francis & Ming Wu
P ’15, ’22
Jennie Frow P ’97, ’01
Ajay Garg and Tian Zhou
P ’23
Stephen & Anne Georgas
P ’03, ’06
David Gladish & Eva
Gladish P ’22
Murray Gold & Helen
Kersley P ’14
Revenna Sudheendra
Guluru & Suchetha
Sudheendra Hosaholalu
Ranganath P ’21
Tong Hahn & D. Smith
P ’16 ♥
Janet Hammond, P ’87, ’91
Jeremy and Huong Hew
P ’21
Tiger Hu & Michelle Liu
P ’20
Henry Huang ’86 & Albina
Huang, P ’19
George & Anne Hume
P ’89
Brian Hwang & Janie Shin
P ’14
Julian Ivanov & Michaela
Tudor P ’17 ♥
Kim Jarvi ’70 & Jessie
Wang, P ’21
The Jha Family ★
Douglas Kent ’47, P ’73, ’79, ’82
Susan Kitchell P ’01
Nestor & Catharine
Kostyniuk P ’02
David & Jane Kruse P ’22
Regine & Alex Kuperman
P ’07, ’08
Alan and Marti Latta P ’86
Balfour Le Gresley P ’77
David Leith & Jacqueline
Spayne P ’11
Simon & Audrey Li P ’09
Zhen Li & Yun Ling Zhao
P ’22
Bill Liu and Winnie Liu P ’22
Bo Liu & Ting Liu P ’22
Gang Liu and Guanghong
Zhang P ’21
Franklin Liu and Jessica
Zhu P ’11, ’22
Zhu Liu & Karen Chen P ’19
Nelson Mah & Bonnie Li P ’22
Julian & Simona Marin P ’18, ’20
Roger Martin ’73 & Virginia
Martin, P ’99, ’01, ’03, ’05
Volker & Vandra Masemann
P ’89, ’90, ’95 & ’02
Sam Mathi P ’18, ’20, ’22 ♥
Patrick Mazurek and Jennifer Griffiths P ’21
Bernie McGarva ’72, P ’03
Jimmy Mui & Amelia Ng, P ’22 ♥
Kayambu & Ramalakshmi
Muthuramu P ’08
39 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
Katherine Hammond ’87 & Richard Nathanson ’87, P ’20
Martin & Sylvia Nathanson
P ’85, ’87, GP ’20
Q. Nguyen P ’93
Nasir Noormohamed & Tazmin Merali P ’09, ’10, ’14
Mohamud & Shelina
Nurmohamed P ’06, ’08
Steve O’Neil & Colette Leger P ’15, ’18
John O’Neill and Olga O’Neill P ’22
Opolsky Family
Gladys Page P ’79
Wen Tang Pan & Jenny Gao
P ’19
Jill Copeland ’85 & Bill Parish, P ’20, ’22
CURRENT AND FORMER STAFF
Prof. David W. Alexander
Andrea Annis
Ornella Barrett
Carole Bernicchia-Freeman ★
Jonathan Bitidis ’99 ♥ ★
Rebecca Broderick
Shawn Brooks ♥
Adam Brown ♥
Chris J. Carswell ♥
Sarah Cescon ♥
Garth Chalmers ♥ ★
Maria Collier
Jean Collins
Nancy Dawe ♥
Eugene Di Sante
Michael Didier ♥
Kathy Dimas
Rose Dotten ♥ ★
Martha Drake ♥ ★
Lynda S. Duckworth ★
Carolyn Ellis ’80
Rosemary Evans ♥ ★
G.Alan Fleming ’54 ♥ ★
Andrew Gekas ♥
Sherly Geronimo ♥
Adam Gregson ♥
James Penturn ’77 & Kathleen Crook, P ’07
Mark & Peri Peters
P ’16, ’19 ★
Howard Piafsky & Tina
Goldlist P ’22
David Qu and Helen Zhang
P ’22
Stephen Raymond & Natasha vandenHoven
P ’16, ’19
Donald and Nita Reed
P ’92 ★
Barbara Ritchie P ’80 ★
Richard & Jane Roberts
P ’99, ’02, ’05
Mark & Helen Sava
P ’18, ’20
Howard Schneider & Aliye Keskin-Schneider
P ’09, ’13 ★
The Family of Christina Shao ’21
Peter & Jackie Shaw
P ’17, ’19
Jeffrey Shen & Maggie
Zhang P ’21
Geoff & Carol ShirtliffHinds P ’16, ’17, ’20
Mary & Paul Stager P ’88
James Standen & Irene Tashiro P ’21
Nancy Steinhauer P ’21 ♥
Robert Ulicki & Sherry
D’Costa P ’19
Sanjai Vohra & Sulia Vohra
P ’20
Bo Wang & Jin Liu P ’21
Jim Wang and Vivien Chen
P ’21
Qin Wang & Ruilei Chen
P ’21
Garry & Nancy Watson
P ’92, GP ’16, ’19
Donald & Cindy Wong
P ’08
Michael & Sylvia Wong
P ’02
Yan Qing Wu and Xiu Ping
Han P ’21
Mark Yarranton & Patricia
Foran P ’13
Bin Yin and Yunzi Zheng
P ’21
Stephen & Maryam Yu
P ’94
Tao Yuan & Chun Liu P ’21
Shunli Zhang and Libo
Wang P ’21
Liang Zhao & Melinda Lee
P ’21
Yan Zheng & Lily Han P ’21
Anonymous (13)
Anonymous ♥
Anonymous (5)
Anonymous ★
Anonymous (2) ♥
H. Donald Gutteridge & M. Anne Millar ★
Rebecca Harrison & Stephen Colella ♥
Sean Hayto ♥
Judith Kay ♥ ★
Rob Kennedy ♥
Virginia Ki ♥
Ping Kong Lai & Shiu Ling
Lai
Dan & Diane Lang ★
Raymond Lee ♥ ★
Rebecca Levere ♥ ★
Kara Lysne-Paris ♥
Anand Mahadevan
Julie Martin ♥
Mary McBride
Lily McGregor ♥ ★
Jeffrey McLeod ♥
Robin Michel
Ron Mintz
Paul Moore
Clare Pace
Stan Pearl GP ’21, ’23 ★
Jennifer Pitt-Lainsbury ♥ ★
Marie-Claire Recurt ★
Libby Reeves ♥
Larry Rice
40 THE ROOT | FALL 2022 A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
Michaele M. Robertson & Barry Wansbrough
Forough Shafiei
Elizabeth Smyth
Sarah Shugarman ♥
FRIENDS OF UTS
Adham Abji
AMC Networks
Janet Ashberry
B & B Hamilton Fund at Toronto Foundation ★
Azmina Bandali
Peter Bartram
Catherine Bateman
Barbara Beck
Carolyn Beck & Neal Sherman
Peter Bennett
Paul Berner
Shiraz Bharmal
Donald Brown
Jill Burns
Cade Foundation
Jamie Cappelli
Stanley Caravaggio
Centraide du Grand Montreal
Computer Animation
Studios of Ontario
Dorothy Cook
Jennifer Cosman
John Crichton
Janet Dalicandro
Diana D’Amelio
John Davidson
Jan Dean
Nazli Dewji
Gail Deyell
Anna Beth Doyle
Dr. Sandra A C Chong
Dentistry PC
John Drake & Martha Drake
Nancy Dudgeon
Lorna Earl
Jon Eddington
Dawn Ellis
Jeffrey Farber
Elizabeth Straszynski & Chris Wilson ♥
C. Ann Unger ★
F. Ronald Wakelin
Justin Williams ♥
Janet Williamson ♥ Carole (Geddes)
Zamroutian ♥ ★
Anonymous
Anonymous (3) ♥ ★
Janet Finch
Jane Fletcher
Madeline Flynn
Paul Fodden
Beverley Freedman
Susan French
Stan Gasner
General Motors of Canada Company
Karen Gildenberg
Goldman Sachs
Joel Greenspan
Arlene Gryfe
Roger Hamshaw
Philip Hare
The William and Nona
Heaslip Foundation
Gordon Henderson
Alexander Hewlitt
Laura Hill
Ric Hillyer
Stewart Hoffman
Bill Horan
Janet M. Hunter
Allan D. Hux
Shenur Jamani
Wenyu Jiang
Rosemin Jiwa-Jutha
Dennis Jones
Rehana Kassam
Leslie King
KPMG Toronto
Kvantsoft Inc.
Alf Kwinter
Trevor Levere
Harvey Levkoe
Scott Logan
April London
Barbara Lord
Linda Loth
Rosemin Madhany
Manulife Financial
Paul Marks
Malcolm Martini
Mary McKechnie
Jacinta Meharchand
Sandra Miike
William Milliken
Sonia Milton
Nadir & Shabin Mohamed
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation ★
Martin Nash
Newton Foundation
Susan Noda
Ken O’Connor
O’Neil Léger Family Foundation
Government of Ontario
Paul Paquette
Daniel Perrier
Pat Plue
John Pluscauskas
Anonymous (4) ♥
Anonymous ★
Anonymous (2)
Gail Posen
Steven Prince
QuadReal Property Group
Queen’s University
Rapido Trains ♥ ★
Reis Informatica
John P. Reynolds
Rogers Communications
Charles Rosenberg
Rachel Rosenberg
Susan Rowan
Irene Rowe
Royal Lighting
Dan Rozycki
Sonya Rozycki
Joe Ryan
Anna Scrivo
Mary Shaughnessy
Jinghua Shen
Birgit Siber
Mary Simpson
Alexis Singer
41 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
PHOTO: Dr. Jeff McLeod, Music and Associate Teacher
Carol Smith
Susan Spellman
Spirit of Math Thornhill Campus
Vesna Steinberg
Samuel Stern
John Stewart
Suleman Family
Sun Life Financial
Synopsys Corporate Headquarters
Synthesys Canada Inc
Diana Tabak
Peter Taylor
Vera Taylor
Telus Communications Inc.
The Henry N.R. Jackman Foundation
Nora Thompson
Toronto Area Custom Ford Dealers Inc
Foundation Toronto ★
UTS Alumni Association ★
UTS Parents’ Association ★
Frank Van Deman
Sheila Vandenberk
Visa Inc
John Watts
Keith Weaver
CELEBRATING OUR GRADUATING CLASS!
Webleton Inc
Anne Weldrick
Roger Williams
Diana D. Wolfson
Nianchong Wu
Noriko Yui
Joyce Zemans
Asia Zolnierczyk
Anonymous (8)
Anonymous ★
Since 2007, parents of graduating students have celebrated their children’s graduation from UTS by making a gift to the Grad Class Bursary Fund in honour of their children. The Grad Class Bursary is endowed with over $235,000 which provides approximately $10,000 annually in financial aid to current UTS students. This year, many of the gifts in honour of graduating students were directed to our Building Fund. We thank our families for giving the gift of a UTS education through donations totaling over $28,000!
CLASS OF 2022
Madjid Alizadeh GP ’22 in honour of Jason Alizadeh ’22
Steven & Gita Alizadeh P ’15, ’17, ’20, ’22 in honour of Jason Alizadeh ’22
Sonia Chai P ’22 in honour of Layla Chai Rahnema ’22
Mark Cocklin & Brenda Chung P ’22, ’27 in honour of Aidan Cocklin ’22
Radu Craiu & Lei Sun P ’22, ’25 in honour of Clara Craiu ’22
Kristina Bates ’88 & Harris Davidson, P ’22 in honour of Jacob Davidson ’22
Richard Derham & Qing Li
P ’22, ’26 in honour of Ann Derham ’22
Qing Fan and Min Qian
P ’22, ’25 in honour of Vanessa Fan ’22
Robert Francis & Ming Wu
P ’15, ’22 in honour of Jennifer Francis ’22
David Gladish & Eva Gladish P ’22 in honour of Meredith Gladish ’22
Ivana Glavan P ’22 in honour of Sava Glavan ’22
Kevin Huang & Nita Chen
P ’22, ’27 in honour of Isabella Huang ’22
Chris Javornik & Linda Weber P ’22 in honour of Erika Javornik ’22
David & Jane Kruse P ’22 in honour of Alexandra Kruse ’22
Zhen Li & Yun Ling Zhao
P ’22 in honour of Eileen Li ’22
Michael Ling & Karen Chan ’91, P’ 22, ’24 in honour of Lauren Ling ’22
Franklin Liu & Jessica Zhu
P ’11, ’22 in honour of Catherine Liu ’22
Bill Liu & Winnie Liu P ’22 in honour of Emily Liu ’22
Bo Liu & Ting Liu P ’22 in honour of Frank Liu ’22
Nelson Mah and Bonnie Li
P ’22 in honour of Bryan Mah ’22
Laura Money ’81 & Marcus Macrae, P ’22 in honour of Kiara Macrae ’22
Sam Mathi P ’18, ’20, ’22 in honour of Amelia Mathi ’22
Jimmy Mui & Amelia Ng, P ’22 in honour of Samuel Mui ’22
TRIBUTE GIFTS
John O’Neill & Olga O’Neill P ’22 in honour of Alexander O’Neill ’22
Jill Copeland 1985 and Bill Parish P ’20, ’22 in honour of Frances Parish ’22
Howard Piafsky & Tina Goldlist P ’22 in honour of Bella Piafsky ’22
David Qu and Helen Zhang P ’22 in honour of Raymond Qu ’22
Michael Tanglao & Kathleen Niccols P ’22 in honour of William Tanglao ’22
Alberts Vitols & Maria Thorburn P ’22 in honour of Alastair Thorburn-Vitols ’22
William & Margaret Zhang P ’22 in honour of Victoria Zhang ’22
Anonymous in honour of their children
Thank you to everyone who gave in honour or in memory of dear friends and family.
IN
HONOUR OF:
Steven ’77 & Gita Alizadeh, P ’15, ’17, ’20, ’22
Monica Biringer ’78
Class of 2021
Lawrence DeCou
Rosemary Evans
Al Fleming ’54
42 THE ROOT | FALL 2022 A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
Barry Graham ’59, P ’89, ’92
Libby Grant
William Harradence ’15
Megan Hew ’21
Rimmy Kaur P ’21
Rob Kennedy
Natasha Park ’27
Claire Shaw ’19
Elizabeth Shaw ’17
UTS Teachers & Staff
Andrew Wilson
Elizabeth Zhu ’21
IN MEMORY OF:
Sarah Bradshaw ’80
John Corrigan ’57
Rian Dewji ’08
Darcy Dingle ’56
Douglas Dodds ’74
John Duffy ’81, P ’17, ’21
Michael Elmarson ’87
Don Fawcett ’50
Keva Garg ’23
Howard Hainsworth ’51
Arthur Halpenny ’52
Jun Kawakami ’91
Bruce MacLean
Norah Maier
Clare Pace
Warren MacKay Page ’79
THE UTS ARBOR SOCIETY FOR PLANNED GIVING
Stan Pearl GP ’21, ’23
John Perrin ’81
Dr. J.D. ’51 & Patricia Robertson, P ’79
Louise Sabty-Cohen
Michael Starr ’60
Eric Steinberg ’80
George Stinson ’68
Kate Tiley
Michael Vaughan ’58
Dudley Young ’59
UTS would like to thank the following individuals who have declared their intention to include UTS in their charitable giving plans. We also thank all those who wish to remain anonymous.
Donald K. Avery ’49
Scott Baker, Former Teacher
Christopher (Bill) Ballyn ’51
Lois & John Bowden ’48, P ’79
Paul Brace ’71, P ’12
Peter L. Buzzi ’77
Ben Chan ’82
Class Member ’84
James S. Coatsworth ’69
Gillian (Davidson)
Davies ’87
Matthew Dryer ’68
Lynda S. Duckworth, Former Teacher
James Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72
G. Alan Fleming ’54, Former Principal
John R.D. Fowell 1960
Stephen Gauer ’70
H. Donald Gutteridge, Former Principal, & M. Anne Millar
Robert W. Hoke ’66
David J. Holdsworth ’61
Robert E. Lord ’58
James I. MacDougall ’54
Bernie McGarva ’72, P ’03
James A. (Sandy)
McIntyre ’71
David Morgan ’63
J. Timothy Morgan ’87
John D. Murray ’54
Mark Opashinov ’88
Stephen Raymond & Natasha vandenHoven P ’16, ’19
D. Kenneth Roberts ’70, P ’00, ’04
Michaele M. Robertson, Former Principal
John N. Shaw ’50
David Sherman ’75
Murray E. Treloar ’68
Gregory G. Turnbull ’73
Walter Vogl ’73
Anonymous (19)
We extend our heartfelt thanks to members of the UTS community who made a testamentary gift between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022 creating their legacy at UTS:
Estate of J Warren Morris ’49
Estate of The Honourable William Albert Earl Sheppard Q.C. ’38
If you have made provisions for UTS in your will, or would like to receive information on planned giving, please contact Martha Drake, Executive Director, Advancement at mdrake@utschools.ca or 416-946-0097.
43 THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE A NNUAL D ONOR R EPORT
PHOTO: Dan Chen, Mandarin Teacher
LOOKING BACK
Many students who passed through the halls of UTS at 371 Bloor Street West, and their parents, dreamed of a modernized school: the same UTS, but with much better facilities. UTS Parents’ Association president Frederick Stinson Q.C. ’40 took it further, proposing this design for a new home in 1966, grounded in the brutalist style of the times. He also wrote a piece in the Twig entitled, ‘It’s time to build a new UTS.’ (See article on UTS Homecoming, page 16.)
Over half a century later, another line drawing, by Diana Saragosa of Diamond Schmitt Architects became the initial design of our new school, transforming our long-held dream of a new school building into reality at last.